Face Down
by AnnikaMalfoy
Summary: Bella chose Jacob instead of Edward,but who can she turn to when Jacob turns abusive?This story is not labeled as a Bella/Jacob pairing.However, they are the two main characters in the story, that's why it sayd Bella and Jacob.So don't tell me I'm lying!
1. Just the Beginning

**A/N: This is my first Twilight fic. I have been sitting on it for about a month now. Fear of being hated. But I thought Shattered would make me hated. I was wrong. Maybe I'll be wrong about this, too. The characters' personalities will be a little different from the ones you know. I couldn't make this work unless I changed some of them. And for the record, I have nothing against Jacob. I just don't think he should be with Bella. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters. They belong to Stephenie Meyer. All I own is the plot for this one. **

**Chapter 1 Just the Beginning**

**Bella **

Isabella Swan had always been a stubborn person who stuck to the decisions that she made. Which is what made leaving Edward Cullen for Jacob Black so much harder. She knew once she chose, it would take a lot to change her mind. Did she still love Edward even a month later. Yes, but she felt she had to give things a chance with Jake. He had done so much for her in the time that Edward was gone that she couldn't just walk away.

Though, in the month, that she'd been with Jacob, she spent most of her time thinking about Edward and his family. _Her_ family. She hadn't spoken to any of them since the day she broke Edward's heart. She knew they probably wouldn't want her hanging around making things worse for Edward. She decided to sever all ties for Edward's sake.

She did love Jacob, as well. Sometimes, though, she couldn't help but feel that Jacob treating her like a prize. He would take her to places, he knew Edward would be just to show off that he won. She hated that part of him, everytime she had to look into Edward's hurt eyes.

"Bella, you okay, babe?" Jacob asked pulling her out of her thoughts. They were sitting on the couch in his garage.

They had just spent the day riding their motorcycles and were now killing time before they met the pack at Sam's.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" Bella replied.

"You just seem kinda quiet is all." he replied. He put his arm around her shoulder. She snuggled closer to him. Partly because she wanted to but mostly because she felt it was expected.

"I just have a lot on my mind." she replied trying to sound nonchalant. She could tell by his breathing that she had failed.

"It's him, again, isn't!" he all but yelled.

"Not him, them." Bella responded and pulled away readying herself to run in case he phased. He took a couple of deep breaths and pulled it together.

"Why?" He asked still sounding angry.

"They're like my family, Jake." she said.

"And the pack isn't?" He questioned.

"Of course they are but that doesn't change how I feel about the Cullens." she said.

"If you were so important to each other than why haven't you been in contact for over a month?" Jacob asked.

"Because Edward needs time to get over and we all want to respect that."

"That's what you wanna believe isn't?"

"No, it's the truth!"

"They don't want anything to do with you anymore. The only reason they tolerated you was because he wanted them to! Now that you no longer want him, they no longer want you. You deep down that is why, not even Alice, has called you in a month."

"No, it's not. They all wanna respect Edward's space. Just like I do."

"It doesn't matter what the reason." Jacob said getting inches away from her face. "Whether they want you or not, I forbid you to have anything to do with them."

"Jacob, you don't own me. So don't act like you do. If I want to see the Cullens I will!" she replied not flinching away from his stare.

She couldn't believe what happened next. She felt the sting of the back of his hand against her cheek and fell to the garage floor from the force. She looked back up at Jacob. He was staring at his hand shocked at what he had just done. She blinked the tears from her vision, stood up and walked out of the garage. She jumped into her truck and drove away ignoring Jacob's pleads for her to come back. She knew it was hard for him to control himself when they discussed the Cullens but this was the first time he went that far.

Without thinking, she pulled out her cell phone and punched in the first number that came to mind.

_"Please answer!" _She begged as tears started to fall hard.

**Alice**

Alice was sitting on Japser's lap, reading her favorite novel, _A Tale of Two Cities,_ while Jasper stroked her hair absentmindedly. As hard as she was trying to concentrate her thoughts kept drifting to Edward. He was hurting, bad. They all knew it but only Jasper knew how bad, the break up, as well as, Bella's silence was hurting her. She didn't know if the others felt the same way but, for her, it was like she had lost a sister.

"Babe, she'll come back when she's ready." Jasper said sensing her sadness, knowing what it was about. "She's probably keeping away to make it easier on Edward."

"But what if she thinks we don't want her because of her choice." Alice replied. That had been her biggest worry since that stupid dog came into the picture.

"If you're worried about it, why not peek into her future?" Jasper suggested.

"I've tried but she's always with the mutt!" Alice replied putting on a pouty face. "I hate him."

Jasper smiled slightly but before he could speak, Alice's cell went off. She jumped up, confused about who it could be. The enitre family was home. She picked it up off the dresser and it was flashing Bella's name.

"It's Bella!" she squealed and flipped it open. "You know just because you and my brother aren't together anymore doesn't mean I want you out of my life."

"I know, I'm sorry." Bella replied and sounded like she was crying. "Is your brother home?"

"We're all home." Alice answered. "Why?"

"I need to talk to you but I don't want Edward to see me, right now." she sound anxious now.

"Bella, what's wrong?" Alice questioned.

"I'll tell you when I get there but please get Edward to leave." she begged. "Please!"

Alice couldn't deny her as upset as she sounded.

"Okay." Alice replied.

"Thank you, Alice. And I'm so sorry to call you like this. Especially after..."

"Don't worry about it. I'm still here for you."

"I'll be there soon."

Alice heard the line click off and snapped her phone shut.

"What's up?" Jasper asked suddenly alarmed, no doubt from the anxiety that was radiating off of her.

"She's really upset. She needs to talk to me but she doesn't want Edward to see her." Alice replied. "She wouldn't say why. She just wanted me to get him out of the house."

"Well, Em and I can take him hunting for a few hours." Jasper suggested.

"That would be great Jazz." she replied.

"Okay, I'll go get them. Should I block myself?" he asked heading for the door.

"No, if he knows Bella's coming, he might be more inclined to leave." Alice replied. He left and she followed.

"Esme." she called walking down the stairs.

"In the kitchen." Esme responded.

"Jazz and Em are gonna take Edward hunting and I'm gonna need some comfort food." Alcie stated as she entered the kitchen.

"Why?" Esme asked.

"Bella just called. She sounded pretty upset and wanted me to convince Edward to leave. She wants to talk but doesn't want Edward to see her." Alice answered. "I have no idea what's going on, yet?"

Emmett, Jasper, and Edward came down the stairs.

"Alice, what was worng with her?" Edward asked.

"I don't know. She just said she wanted to talk but didn't want you to see her." Alice answered. _"We'll talk when you get back." _

Edward nodded. Jasper kissed her goodbye on the cheek. All three boys hugged Esme as Alice grabbed some potato chips out of the cabinet. Shortly after the boys departed, there was a knock on the door.


	2. Family

**Chapter 2 Family**

**ALICE**

Alice darted to the door. When she opened she threw her arms around her best friend.

"You have no idea how much I missed you!" she all but screamed. "The whole family has actually."

"Alice, as much as I missed you too, I can't breathe." Bella gasped.

"Sorry." Alice said and pulled away. "Come in."

"Hi Bella, dear." Esme who was just walking out of the kitchen. "It's wonderful to see you again." She then went up the stairs.

Bella stood looking awkward for a moment.

"She's not mad. The others just didn't know if this was a me and you thing or an everyone thing." Alice replied trying to explain Esme's abrupt departure.

"There's no secrets in this family." Bella shrugged. "But I would like to just talk to you, right now."

"Have a seat." Alice said.

Bella sat down on the couch and Alice, just getting over the excitement of seeing her again, really looked at her. Her face was tearstained and she had a bruise blossoming on her left cheek.

"What happened?" she asked slightly alarmed.

"I was at Jacob's." Bella said.

_"If that mutt hurt her. I swear, I'll kill him!" _Alice thought angrily but kept watching Bella.

"We got into a fight." Bella continued liike she was afraid to go on.

"About what?" Alice pressed though she already had a pretty good idea.

"You guys." Bella answered.

Alice wasn't far off the mark.

"He doesn't think that I should still be attached to the family because Edward and I aren't together. He also thinks that you guys only tolerated me because of Edward." Bella continued.

"That's not true!" Alice yelled astonished. "Yes, it all started because of Edward but once you become part of this family, you will always be! Edward would never forgive us if we cut you off. No matter how he feels about being around you."

"I know." Bella replied smiling. "I'm sorry for cutting you guys off, though."

"Don't be." Alice replied. "We know that you're trying to respect Edward's space and don't want him hurting anymore than he is. We figured that you needed some space too. Which is what kept me from calling all month. Okay, so the mu-Jacob, sorry, doesn't think you should spend time with us anymore?"

"Yes, in fact, he told me that he forbid it."

Alice burst out laughing. _"Who does he think he is? Her father. Please!"_ She thought but said, "I'm sorry. That's a little ridiculous, don't you think?"

"Yes." Bella replied grinning slightly. "And that's what I told him. I also told him that I was gonna see you if I wanted."

"And what did he say to that?" Alice asked but once again she knew the answer.

Bella didn't seem to have it in her to say it so she just pointed to the bruise. Alice felt rage, to rival Edward's when he finds out, boiling up inside her.

"He did what!" she almost screamed.

"Calm down, Alice." Bella begged. "It's the first time it happened. He just has a hard time controling himself when we talk about you and the family. Please, don't do anything!"

"I won't but he sure as hell better learn to control himself!" she was fighting the urge to scream again.

Bella opened her mouth to speak again but her cell rang. She pulled it out and looked at the screen.

"It's Jake." she said flipping open the phone.

**BELLA**

"Hello." she said.

"Bella, sweetie, I'm so sorry. I just lost control." Jake voice sounded worried and remorseful.

"It's okay." Bella said. "I knew you were losing it. That's why I left. I'm sorry too."

"Where are you?" he asked.

"I came to see Alice." she replied cringing slightly.

Something like a growl came from the other line.

"Did you tell her?"

"Yes."

"Great, now I'm going to have them watching my every move."

"I'm sorry, Jake." she pleaded.

"Just get back here. We have to be to Sam's in an hour."

"I'll be there in a bit."

She flipped the phone shut and turned back to Alice. Alcie was staring at her with a dumbfounded expression on her face. She, no doubt heard the entire conversation.

"You're going back." Alice said astounded.

"Yes. Look, it only happened once. If it does again, I won't go back." she said and headed for the door.

"Wait." Alice said jumping up. "If you're going to be around the pack, you probably don't want them to see the bruise."

"I would rather not have to explain it."

"Get back on the couch and I'll be back in a minute." Alice ran up the stairs.

Bella stared around the room. It was true, you never really knew how much you'd miss something until it was gone. She had missed everything about the house and everyone in it. Alice came bounding back down the stairs with a make up before she had more time to think on it anymore.

"I want you to know that you can come over here or call me anytime you need me." Alice told her as she began putting concealer on the bruise.

"I know." Bella replied.

"Do you want me to keep it from Edward?" she asked.

"No, there's no secrets in this family. Besides, it would be too hard for you to block your thoughts all the time."

"Okay, well, you're all finished."

She handed Bella a small hand mirror. Bella looked at herself and she didn't see any hint of the bruise.

"You're the best, Alice. Thank you for everything."

She threw her arms around Alice.

"Just remember, you always have family here." Alice replied as Bella walked out the door.

**ALICE**

"Just remember, you always have family here." Alice said as Bella walked out the door. She heard the stairs creak and turned to see Esme, Carlisle, and Rosalie coming down.

"It's not going to stop, is it?" she asked Carlisle.

"I don't know. In a normal case, it just gets worse but there is nothing normal about Jacob." Carlisle responded. "We just have to wait and watch."

"Is there anything we can do?" she asked.

"I'm afraid not." Carlisle replied. "We can't even report this or anything else he may do later to the police."

"Why not?" Alice asked outraged.

"Because it risks exposing the pack, as well as, inadvertantly, exposing ourselves." Carlisle replied.

"So if he does it again, we just have to keep watching it happen?!" Alice questioned. It wasn't known to anyone else but her and Jasper, maybe Edward, that she hated seeing Bella hurt or in pain almost as much as Edward did.

"No." Carlisle responded. "We keep doing what you just did. We take care of her and let her know we always will. That's the best we can do, right now. Hopefully, if it does continue, she will end up leaving him."

By now, Rosalie was sitting in the armchair looking as indifferent as ever, flipping through channels. Alice knew that Rosalie did care but didn't like to show it. Something Alice would never understand. Carlisle had sat next to Alice on the couch and Esme curled up in Carlisle's lap.

"What about Edward?" Esme asked. "Should we tell him? I mean he's already sad and angry he lost her to Jacob but what if he finds out he's hurting her."

"He hurt her, once!" Alice stated defiantly. "We don't know for sure if he's going to do it again!"

The other three gave her looks of pure astonishment. They thought she was defending the dog.

"I mean I don't want to belive he is going to continue hurting her. Positive thinking is the best thing right now." she explained.

"Still, it doesn't change the question." Esme stated. "What about Edward?"

"It's like Bella said," Rosalie interjected. "There are no secrets in this family and it would be too hard for all of us to block our thoughts all the time."

"She's right." Carlisle stated. "We'll just have to keep him under control. We have to make sure he knows that it could be just a one time thing."

"Should I call them or wait for them to come back?" Alice asked.

"Go ahead and call them." Esme said.

Alice opened her phone and dialed Jasper's number. It rang four times and went to voicemail.

"Hey Jazz, it's Al. We need you guys to come home soon. It's not an emergency or anything so don't worry. We just need to have a family meeting and the sooner the better. It's about Bella. I can't tell you exactly what because we don't wanna risk Edward hearing your thoughts. Just get home soon. I love you." She flipped the phone shut. They waited in silence for an hour. All of them rolling over their thoughts on the situation.

Alice just prayed that it wouldn't happen again. Bella didn't deserve that. Then again, the mutt didn't deserve Bella and Edward did but nobody ever got what they deserved did they. She was pulled out of her thoughts by the ringing cell phone. She looked at the screen and it was Jasper.

_"Wow, this is putting my off the ball. Usually, I don't have to look." _She thought as she flipped the phone open and said, "Hey Jazz."

"Hey Al. We'll be home in a couple minutes. Is everything okay with her?" he asked.

"I can't say. For Edward's sake." she answered. "I love you."

"I love you, too. We'll be there in less than five minutes." The line clicked and Alice closed her phone.

"They'll be hear in five minutes." she told the others.

Everyone got up and walked to the dining room.

**EDWARD**

When my the boys entered the house, Edward could immediately tell whatever it was about Bella was bad. Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, and Alice were blocking him. Esme was thinking about redecorating the dining room but with little conviction. Carlisle was going through the steps of a triple bypass but missing key points. Rosalie was, of course, thinking about herself but there was a hint of sadness to them and Alice was...

"Alice, if you're going to block me, please stop singing NSYNC songs." Edward said slightly annoyed.

"Sorry." she said.

"Edward, could you have a seat?" Esme asked. Edward wanting to know what was going on sat down next to Esme at the dining room table. "Jasper, Emmett, could you please sit on either side of him please?" Esme rose and moved to the other side of Carlisle.

"Why do I need a guard?" Edward asked.

"Because you aren't gonna like what we have to say." Carlisle replied.

"We don't want you to do anything you'd regret." Esme stated. "Alice, why don't you get us started?"

"Edward, there was a reason Bella didn't want you to see her today." Alice stated. "She had a fight with Jacob today. A fight about the family. You know how angry the topic makes him, especially since he still feels threatened by you."

She was building up to something that she didn't want to say. It was something that she knew would set him off. He tried to look into her head but she had moved on from NSYNC to The Backstreet Boys.

"He ended up telling her that she couldn't spend time with us anymore." Alice kept talking.

Edward burst out laughing as did Emmett and Jasper.

"Who does he think he is? Does he honestly expect her to listen? 'Cuz if Isabella Swan wants to do it, she'll do it. Even if it's dangerous!"

"She told him something to that level." Alice stated.

"Good." Edward said. "At least she's keeping him in line."

'That's not all. He lost control." Alice said. "It wasn't bad!" She added seeing the anger on Edward's face.

"What's not bad?"

"He hit her but she left before he could do anything else."

"I'm gonna kill that filthy mongrel!" Edward growled attempting to stand. Emmett placed a hand on his shoulder and shived him back into the chair. He felt Jasper sending him waves of calm.

"We can't doing anything about it right now." Carlisle stated.

"To hell we can't." Edward growled again.

"We can't because if we go to the police they'll want proof but right now, Bella doesn't think it'll happen again, so she'll change her story. And even if she doesn't we still risk exposing the pack who we don't have a problem with." Carlisle explained.

"Then let's go down there and do something." Edward said.

"I won't risk starting a war." Carlisle stated. "Besides, Edward, Bella still loves him and do you really think she'll appreciate you hurting him."

Edward knew that it would only make Bella hate him if he hurt Jacob. It still hurt though to just sit there and do nothing. What if he did it again? What if he really hurt her? Alice couldn't see her future when Bella was with him. What if they couldn't see and stop her from being terribly hurt?

"So what do we do?" he sighed.

"We just have to be there for her if it happens again." Carlisle said. "And we can't judge or try to force her to leave him. It will just push her away from us."

"Fine but I can't be here when she's hurt. I don't think I'd be able to control myself." Edward said through clenched teeth.

"We understand." Esme said in her loving way. "But we have to remember that we don't know if it's going to happen again. So let's try not to condemn her."

"I really hope it doesn't." Edward said solemnly.

_"So do we." _Esme thought placing her hands on his in a motherly way.

**BELLA **

Bella arrived back at La Push with about fifteen minutes before they had to be at Sam's. She drove to Jacob's house. He was waiting on the porch for her, he looked angry. She took a deep breath and got out of the car.

"I can't believe you went over there, after I told you to stay away from them!" he yelled walking toward her.

"And I told you that you don't own me!" she yelled back. "Alice is my best friend, the person that you go to when you're upset!"

"It would be different if your best friend wasn't one of my mortal enemies! Not too mention your ex's sister!" he responded.

"Oh my god, Jacob! I chose you! If I still wanted him, I wouldn't be here now!"

"Just shutup!"

"Once again, you don't own me! Quit treating me like you do!"

He had backed her against her truck by now and she was a little afraid of his expression.

"Look," She said trying to calm herself and him. "Let's just let it go for now. Let's go to Sam's and have a good time with the pack."

"Fine." he breathed, "But we will finish this later." He was making a visible effort to calm down. "Let's go."

He offered her his arm and she took it shaky slightly. They walked to Sam's in silence, Bella comtemplating her decision all the way.

**A/N: This chapter didn't turn out as good as I thought. I do, however, have an excuse, I'm sick. So I'm a little off my mark but I got such good feedback that I didn't want to make you guys wait too long. Let me know what you think. **


	3. Mistakes

**CHAPTER 3 MISTAKES**

**BELLA**

As always Bella had enjoyed herself hanging out with the pack. She spent most of her time with Emily who she had become close to over the past month. They were almost as close as Bella was to Alice but not quite. Bella didn't feel right bringing up what happened earlier in front of her. Mostly because she knew Emily would take Jacob's side on things. None of the pack would approve if they knew Bella was going to continue being firends with the Cullens which made it harder for Bella to feel close to them. At least the Cullens understood how she felt about Jacob and the pack. Alice and the others would never judge anything on her decisions regarding Jacob. The pack; however would judge her if they knew she ran off to the Cullens after what happened today.

After they left Sam's Jacob took Bella back to his garage where they sat on the couch and made out for awhile. That was another thing Bella didn't like about their relationship. Jacob was always so physical and rarely ever wanted to talk about anything. Whereas with Edward, they would talk about anything and everything. She missed just having a verbal relationship but most of the time, when her and Jacob weren't kissing, they were fighting. She hated that too. When would the fighting stop? When would he trust her? When would he stop understand that just because she was still attached to the Cullens didn't mean she wanted Edward back?It was sad that one could think about all these things while making out with one's boyfriend. She wasn't really that into kissing him. It wasn't that she didn't like to just that they did it so much that the thrill was gone.

She felt Jacob slide his hand up her shirt to unclasp her bra. She broke the kiss and pulled away from him.

"No, Jake, I told you, I'm not ready." she said a little annoyed at having to say it again.

"What's the problem? You were practically throwing yourself at the bloodsucker a month ago but you tell me no!" Jacob yelled. "I don't see a difference!"

"The difference, Jake, is that he couldn't give me a disease if we did it unprotected and I was ninety percent sure I couldn't get pregnant." Bella replied.

"Well, I don't have any diseases! And I was planning on using a condom anyway!" Jacob stood up and starting walking toward her.

"But the biggest difference is when I was throwing myself, as you call it, at Edward we were together for nearly a year. You and I have only been together for month. I'm not comfortable yet!" Bella yelled nearly crying. She opened the garage door and walked to her truck. "I'm not sure if I'll be seeing you tomorrow!"

She pulled open the driver side door, got in and drove off, ignoring Jacob's furious yells for her to come back. Her cell phone rang several times on her way back to Charlie's but she ignored it. She got home, saw the cruiser in the driveway and viciously wipe away her tears so Charlie wouldn't ask what had her upset.

She walked in but found the T.V. was off. Was he in bed already? She looked down at her watch. It was a quarter til one in the morning.

_"Wow! He must really trust me with Jacob." _she thought as she climbed the stairs. _"If I was out with Edward tonight he would've dragged me home by now." _ She went into her room and threw her phone and keys on the bed and went to the bathroom for a quick shower.

She blocked all thoughts of everything that happened that day as she let the hot water cascade down her back. She didn't want to have to think about any of it. She didn't want to have to worry about what would be waiting in La Push when she went the next day. She would go because she was afraid of what Jacob would do if she didn't.

Fifteen minutes later, she stepped out of the shower and went to her room. After putting on a pair of her crappiest sweats and brushing her hair, she looked at her phone to find she had a voicemail. No doubt from Jacob. She flipped it open and dialed her voicemail.

"Bella, it's Jacob. I can't believe you left in the middle of our discussion. I wasn't finished talking to you. I want you over here by two tomorrow or I will go over there and bring you here myself. You got that."

That was the end of the message. Bella sighed and plugged the phone in so it could charge. She wondered why she put up with him trying to oreder her around all the time. She could just leave him. Sometimes, she really wanted to but knew he wouldn't let her go that easily. Besides, if she left him she wouldn't have anybody.She cried herself to sleep that night.

**THE NEXT DAY...**

Bella got up, got dressed, and headed to La Push around noon. Jacob was waiting on his front porch when she got there. Once again he looked angry.

_"Great, he's not over it yet." _Bella thought as she shut off the truck and got out. "Hi, Jake." she said and attempted a smile.

"Let's go for a walk." he replied standing and grabbing her by the elbow.

"Ow! Jake, that hurts." she said as he pulled her with him. He let go of her. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, we're just going to finish our conversation from last night." he replied.

"I'm not ready for that step in the relationship. What more is there to say?" she told him.

"A lot because I am ready." he stated.

"I guess that leaves us with a problem then." Bella said looking at the ground.

Bella didn't know what they could do about it. If Jacob was like Edward then he would've respected the fact that she didn't want to and let it go. Jacob, of course, was nothing like Edward and only cared about himself so he would expect Bella to give in. Which was something she wouldn't do until she was ready.

"Can't you at least try?" Jacob asked.

"No. I don't want to." Bella replied. "Jacob, you're in a relationship, it can't just be about you."

"I could say the same thing to you!" he replied.

"This conversation is going nowhere."

Bella started to walk back towards her car but Jacob grabbed her wrist. He was squeezing pretty hard trying to pull her back.

"Jacob, let go of me. You're hurting me." she said trying to pull her arm away.

"Why? So you can go running to the bloodsuckers about our problems!" Jacob said squeezing a little harder. "I don't want them to know about any of this. They're already gonna be on my ass about hitting you yesterday!"

She was angry and upset. She spun around so fast and yelled,

"Well, if you could control yourself you wouldn't have to worry about it!"

She felt the back of his hand hit her right cheek as she felt him release her arm. She fell to the ground from the force. She looked up at him but he didn't look sorry this time. In fact, he looked like he wanted to do it again. She was scared and got up as quickly as possible. She started to run for her car.

She thanked god that she didn't have more than a few feet to go. There was no way she could've outrun him if it was too far away. She jumped in the truck and drove away. Jacob was running behind her yelling threats. Eventually, he stopped and Bella broke down as she drove to the only place she would feel safe for awhile.

**ALICE**

Alice ran to Edward's room and opened the door without knocking.

"Bella's on her way. I just thought I'd let you know." she told him.

"Is she hurt?" he asked. Alice could see the pain in his eyes when he looked at her.

"I don't know. I could only see blackness until about two minutes ago when I saw her truck headed here. She's upset but it could be about anything." Alice answered.

"Maybe, I should leave. Just in case." he said.

"That's fine. I think that she would rather you not be here anyway. She really doesn't want her presence to be painful to you." Alice said.

"Right." Edward said and stood up.

"Where are you headed?" Alice asked.

"I don't know." Edward answered. "I'll probably drive around for awhile."

"Okay, I'll let you know what happened when you get back." Alice said. _"Please take Jazz or Em with you?" _

"I don't need them. I'll be fine." he said.

"Please, just to be on the safe side. I don't want you to do something you'll regret." Alice pleaded.

"Fine." Edward stepped out of the room. Alice heard him walked down the stairs and ask Jasper to go with him.

She went to the living room where Carlisle and Esme were sitting.

"Bella's on the way over. She's pretty upset about from what I could see. I couldn't see if she was hurt or not." Alcie told them.

"Should we leave you two alone then?" Esme asked.

"No. She knows that you guys know. Vampire hearing and what not." Alice answered. "But where are Rose and Em?"

"They went for a walk in the woods." Esme answered.

"Okay. She'll be here any minute." Alcie said. She went out side to wait for Bella.

She was hoping that the dog didn't hurt Bella but as her truck pulled up in front of the house and she got out, Alice knew she was wrong. As Bella came closer to her, Alice saw a bruise bolossoming on the opposite cheek from yesterday and there were tears falling down her cheeks.

"Oh Bella!" Alice whispered and threw her arms around her. "What happened?"

"We fought again." Bella began to explain when they pulled apart. "It started out being about sex and he was getting really mad. I tried to leave but he grabbed me and wouldn't let go." She held up her left and Alice saw the hand shaped bruise forming around it. "He told me that he wasn't goiung to let me run off and tell you because then you guys would be all over him about it. So I told him that he wouldn't have to worry if he could control himself and he hit me again."

"Bella," Alice sighed. "Come inside. I want Carlisle to make sure there's nothing wrong with your wrist."

"It's fine. Just a bruise. It doesn't even hurt anymore. I promise." Bella said.

"Bella, he's a werewolf. He's just as strong as we are. I want Carlisle to make sure Jacob didn't damage it." Alice said.

"Alright but I can't stay very long. I don't want Jacob to find out I came here." Bella said. "I don't want him to get any more angry than he is."

"You're going back again?" Alice questioned trying to sound understanding.

"Not today but I will later." Bella answered. "Look, we both made mistakes. I pushed him when he was already angry and he lost control. It was just as much my fault as his. Maybe more so mine. So I'll just go back to Charlie's and give him some time to calm down. Then we'll talk and it'll be fine."

Alice didn't know what to say to this so she just took Bella into the house. Esme and Carlisle were still sitting on the couch. Esme was reading and Carlisle was watching T.V. The both looked up as Alice ushered Bella inside.

"Hi Bella, it's nice to see you again." Carlisle said with a smile pretending he didn't see the bruises.

"Hello, Carlisle. Hi, Esme." Bella said in an embarrassed whisper.

"Carlisle, we were wondering if you could take a look at Bella's wrist?" Alice asked. She figured they had heard the conversation outside and she didn't need to elaborate.

"Of course." Carlisle said and stood. He walked to Bella who held out her wrist.

He turned it from side to side. He made her bend it back and forth. Then he squeezed it a little.

"Well, there's no swelling and it doesn't feel like anything's broken." he stated after a few minutes. "I'd say it's just gonna be bruised for a few days."

"Are you sure?" Alice asked. She wanted to be absolutely positive she could tell Edward that Bella wasn't broken.

"Yes." Carlisle answered.

"Hey Alice, do you think you could put some more cover up on these. I don't want Charlie to ask questions?" Bella asked.

"Of course, come on up stairs." Alice said.

**BELLA**

A half hour later, Bella looked bruise free and was hugging Alice goodbye, thanking her for everything. She drove home and set to work on dinner for her and Charlie. She spent the rest of the day cleaning the house trying to distract herself from thoughts of what happened that day.

**A/N: Sorry, this took so long to get out. I was having trouble thinking of another fight that would cause Jacob to get upset enough to lose control. I just realized this morning sex would be perfect. Plus, it'll set up for a little later. I hope you like it. Please, review. **


	4. Visions

**CHAPTER 4 VISIONS**

**EDWARD**

Edward and Jasper drove in silience for about forty five minutes. Edward spent most of the time trying to block out Jasper's thoughts of pity.

"Where are we going?" Jasper finally asked.

"As far away from werewolf territory as possible." Edward replied through clenched teeth.

"We don't even know if he did anything to her yet." Jasper replied.

"Well, I want to make sure that I'm a good distance away when I find out whether he did or not." Edward said. "I don't want to do anything stupid, even though the filthy mongrel would deserve it."

Edward could feel the wave of calmness that Jasper was sending in his direction. He appreciated the effort even if he could feel Jasper's own anger underneath it. It was nice to know he wasn't the only one struggling with this. He thanked god that he had such a good family that took care of each other. He also thnked god that Alice was as close as she was to Bella. Who knows where Bella would go if she didn't have Alice.

The ringing of his phone brought him out of his thoughts. He pulled it out to find it flashing Alice's number. He flipped it open.

"Well, did he?" Edward knew she would know what he meant.

"Yes." Alice answered sadly. "It was worse than last time but not serious. He hit her again and grabbed her wrist hard enough to leave a pretty decent bruise. I had Carlisle check to make sure that it was just a bruise. She asked me to cover them up so Charlie wouldn't ask questions."

"Where is she now?" Edward asked praying he didn't have the answer.

"She went back to Charlie's." Alice answered.

Edward breathed a sigh of relief.

"But," Alice continued. "She plans on talking it out with him, once he's had a chance to calm down."

Edward growled and felt Jasper send him another wave of calm.

"Are you planning on coming back soon?" Alice asked.

"No, I need some time to calm down before I get that close to their territory." Edward replied.

"Okay, we'll be here when you get back." Alice answered. "Please, don't do anything you'd regret?"

"That's why I brought Jasper, isn't it?" Edward said feeling slightly like a five year old needing a chaperone. "Thanks for taking care of her Alice." he added after a moment.

"She means as much to me as she does you." Alice replied. "I'm just sorry she has to go through it. And I'm sorry you have to watch her go through it."

Edward had a sudden idea. Alice had been trying for the past twenty four hours to see the outcome the situation would have. Or at least give them some alternatives to Bella potential pain. The problem was since the outcomes revolved around Bella's decisions concerning Jacob, Alice couldn't see it. Maybe if she focused on the effect the outcome would have on the other people in Bella's life would help her to see the Bella's decision.

"Can we talk when we get home?" Edward said.

"I already know what you're going to ask. I'll try but I'm not sure how well it'll work." Alice answered his unasked question.

"That's all I can ask for." Edward answered. "We'll be home in a couple hours."

Edward snapped the phone shut and rammed it back in his pocket. Jasper was sending him wave upon wave of calm but it didn't seem to be helping.

"I don't understand why she keeps going back to him." he yelled. "Has he really changed her that much?"

"I don't know, man." Jasper replied. "Maybe, She's just scared of what's going to happen if she leaves him."

"No, that can't be it! That isn't Bella!" Edward countered. "At least that's not my Bella. My Bella wasn't afraid of James, or Victoria and her army or even the Volturi. How can she possibly be afraid of a werewolf. It doesn't make sense to me."

"Maybe, she's not afraid of him." Jasper said. "Maybe she's afraid to be without him."

"She doesn't need him because she's still got me!" Edward stated. How could she forget that one crucial thing? He had promised her that he wouldn't leave her again. Did she think the promise no longer mattered because they were apart.

Jasper didn't verbally respond to him but Edward couldn't help but hear what he was thinking. _"But does she know that?" _

"You're right." Edward said calming a little. "I haven't really done anything to prove I'm still here for her, have I?"

"That's not your fault. It hurts you to see her hurt. Not to mention, the person hurting her is the person she chose over you. That's just as hard on you." Jasper stated.

"So what do I do?"

"Only you can answer that question when the time comes."

"You ready to go home?"

"Are you going to be okay?"

"I think so. Talking helped a bit. Thanks."

"What's family for?"

"Plus, I really want to talk to Alice."

"Yeah, what did she mean she'd try but wasn't sure it would work?"

The spent the ride home discussing Edward's theory about Alice getting around not being able to see Bella's future based off of her choice.

**ALICE**

Alice was sitting in her room, surfing the net on her laptop, when she heard the door open and Carlisle greet the boys. She laid the laptop gently on the couch and ran down the stairs, using her vampire speed.

"It worked! It worked! It worked!" she shouted excitedly.

"What worked?" Carlisle asked.

"I can see to possible futures for Bella, right now." Alice answered with a smile.

"But how?" Carlisle asked. "You can't see the wolves."

"No but I can see us." Alice smiled.

"And that helps how?" Carlisle asked.

"Because by focusing on how the outcome of Bella's decisions will effect us then she can see us in Bella's future. Which will inadvertantly tell us what's going to happen to Bella." Edward explained. "It was just something I thought of in the car. Alice tried it."

Carlisle smiled. "I have some pretty smart kids."

"What did you see?" Edward asked.

"Let's go to your room." Alice answered. "I want you to see before we discuss it with the family."

Edward nodded and the walked to his room. Alice had to step around the bed to get to the couch. She was glad Edward still had a little hope of getting her back. She smiled knowing she was about to give him a little more. She sat on the couch and Edward sat next to her.

"So there's a good side and a bad side. Which one do you want first?" Alice asked.

"The bad I guess." Edward answered. Alice could hear the fear in his voice. She closed her eyes and focused on what would happen, she assumed, if Bella stayed with Jacob.

The image of the cemetary came back into her had. It was raining hard. Alice saw herself with her arms wrapped around Jasper and her head in his chest. She saw herself trying to force out the tears that would never come. Jaspe was holding her as tight as he could resting his chin on her head. He had a blank expression on his face. Emmett and Rosalie were standing a little farther back holding on to eachother, both looked like they wished they could cry. Then there was Carlisle who was holding Esme's hand very tightly. Both looked like they just buried one of their daughters. Esme had her free hand on Edward's shoulder. Edward was on his knees looking at the headstone like he was completely lost. It took Alice a minute to gather the courage to pull up the image of thew headstone. It read: _**ISABELLA MARIE SWAN. BELOVED DAUGHTER AND FRIEND. YOU WILL BE MISSED. **_

Alice opened her eyes and peered at Edward. He looked like he wanted to cry. She hated seeing him in that kind of pain.

"I'm assuming that's what's going to happen if she stays with him. But if she doesn't this might happen."

She closed her eyes again and pulled forth the second vision. Bella was lying in the bed in Edward's room. Her head was buried in Edward's neck and her arms were wrapped around him. Edward had his arms around her and was resting his chin on her head. The life that had left his eyes when Bella broke his heart was back.

Alice opened her eyes and she saw a little hope mingled with the pain.

"Was she still human?" Edward asked after a minute.

"I don't know. I couldn't see her eyes." Alice answered.

"Let's hope." Edward stated.

"We will." Alice replied.

She was glad they were given something to hope for. That they weren't just watching Bella suffer for nothing.

**A/N: I hope the end of this chapter turned out okay. I'm not sure if the whole looking at the the effects Bella's decisions would have on the Cullens would really trigger a vision from Alice but I thought the visions would be a nice touch. I also don't know if the visions would come in that much detail but I like setting up sentimental scenes like that so I kinda wanted the chance to do something like that. Review and let me know what you think. **


	5. Confrontations

**CHAPTER 5 CONFRONTATIONS PART 1**

**NARRATOR**

A month passed. The two slaps turned into deep tissue bruises, some fractions and a coupl cracked ribs. Bella tried to keep Jacob happy but he would lose control over every little thing. She began spending more time at the Cullen house than in La Push. She would tell Jacob that she was with Jessica and Angela. He seemed to understand her need to be around her human friends. Bella ended up going there to hang out or sometimes just to feel safer. No matter what the reason the Cullens welcomed her with open arms. Esme always had food for her and they always had something for her to do.

Almost all of the Cullens welcomed her. Edward didn't say anything to her when she came. Most of the time, he was gone but if he was there when she came, he would find some reason to leave. It bothered her more than she thought but she had know idea why.

**Bella**

"So Bella, what color do you want today?" Alice asked. They were once again sitting in Alice's room (On a good day), playing "Bella Barbie." Bella still hated it with a passion. She put up with it simply because she felt it was a nice way to thank Alice for everything that she had done.

"Surprise me." Bella said. Alice was painting her toenails for like the millionth time that month.

"Okay!" Alice replied with a smile. "How about purple?"

"Sounds good to me." Bella replied and pulled her foot out of her flip flop.

Bella had been there since noon. Charlie had decided to go to La Push for the day and asked Bella if she wanted to go see Jacob. She told Charlie to tell Jacob that she had plans. After Charlie left, Bella went to the Cullens' so Jacob wouldn't go over and ask questions. Besides, they were going to a movie later anyway, she didn't have to spend all day with him.

"What time is it?" Bella asked realizing that she hadn't been paying attention.

"Six o'clock." Alice answered after looking at her watch. "Why?"

"Shit!" Bella jumped up from the couch. "I have to meet Jake in an hour. And I still have to shower off your scent."

She quickly slid her foot back in the flip flop and went to leave the room.

"But I've only done one toe!" Alice exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, Alice." Bella said but she had to get home. "Jake hates it when I'm late."

"So don't go at all." Alice suggested.

"I have to go. I'll be in more trouble if I stand him up."

"I mean, don't ever go."

Bella smiled a sad smile. How she wished it were that easy, but when the person hitting you is the only one who wants you, you didn't have a choice. She walked out the door and felt sensed Alice gliding behind her. She ran down the stairs and shouted a goodbye to everyone.

Bella drove home as quickly as possible. Knowing that Charlie was going to be gone all day, she didn't even bother to look for his cruiser as she pulled up to the curb. Which was a mistake because she didn't see the motorcycle parked where the cruiser should have been. She unlocked the door and ran inside and up the stairs.

She darted straight to her dresser and began pulling stuff for her shower out. She didn't even notcie someone was sitting on her bed until she heard them clear their throat. She turned around and found herself staring at Jacob. He had his arms crossed around his chest and he looked angry.

Bella took a deep breath and he didn't know and the scent wasn't to obvious.

"H-hi J-j-jake!" she stuttered. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I figured I'd stop over early and we could talk for a bit before our date." he replied.

"Well, I lost track of time with Jess and Angie so I'm behind and need to shower."

"Well, can I at least get a proper hello before you do?"

Bella knew at that point that he knew. She stood frozen in the doorway. She considered running for a minute but knew she wouldn't get very far.

"It's okay. I could smell the bloodsuckers' scent all over you the minute you walked in the room." Jacob smirked.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She didn't know why she was trying to deny it. There was no way out this time.

"I know you weren't with Jessica and Angela today. Or at all in the past month for that matter."

"You've been following me?" Bella was outraged. How could he sink so low?

"With help from Embry, Quil, and Leah."

"That is so childish."

"That's funny because the only child I see, Bella, is you. Disobeying a direct order then lying about, repeatedly." He had gotten up off the bed and came walking toward her. She moved further in the room to try to get away from him.

"I've told you over and over, Jacob. You aren't my father. I do not have to do anything you say!"

By know Jacob had cornered her by her dresser.

"And I've told you over and over, Bella, that I will teach you to do everything I say. Now,"

She felt the back of his hand sting her right cheek and fell from the force. Her head hit the corner of the dresser before she hit the floor. She reached up and felt the wetness of the blood.

"That was for speaking to me in that disrespectful tone." Jacob said and kicked her in the stomach knocking the wind out of her. "That was for doing what I told you not to." He kicked her again, a little harder this time. "And that was for lying about it. Now, get your fat ass up, take your shower and get downstairs. We have a date."

With that said he walked out of the room and down the stairs. Bella stayed on the floor and caught her breath. It didn't feel like he did to much damage but she made a note to call Carlisle when they got home. She pulled herself up and walked slowly to the bathroom.

After turning the hot water on, she looked in the mirror to make sure the damge to her head wasn't too bad. She dabbed the blood off her head and slowly stepped into the shower. She stepped under the hot water and tried not to think about what the man who was supposed to love her just did to her.

Once she stepped out of the shower she exmined her head again. It didn't look bad enough to need stitches so she put a bandage on it. She reminded herself to call Carlisle later, just to be sure. She spent ten minutes trying to fix her hair to cover it. She didn't need people looking at her.Once her hair was done she put on a pair of jeans with a long sleeved blue V neck top. She slipped on some flip flops and put some cover up under her eye around the bruise.

She walked downstairs to find Jacob sitting on the couch with his arms crossed over his chest and he looked angry still.

"Took you long enough." was all he said as he got up and headed for the door.

She drove, like always. When they arrived at the theater, Jacob bought the tickets but told her that she didn't need to eat because she was already too fat.

Throughout the entire movie, Jacob held her hand or put his arm around her. It wasn't in the loving affectionate way. It was more the controlling, she's my property kind of thing. She barely paid attention to the movie. Her thoughts kept drifting to Edward's gentle, almost too careful caresses. She kept hearing his velvety voice whispering "I love you." She found herself wanting it all back but knew it was impossible. Why would he want her after how much she's hurt him? She made her decision and she was stuck with Jacob. There was no way Edward would ever take her back.

Bella drove back to her house. The silence in the car was a little scary but Bella learned that with Jake, silence was a good thing. When they got back, Jacob got out. He didn't even walk over and open the door for her. She got out and headed for the house. She looked back to see Jacob still leaning against her truck.

"Aren't you going home?" Bella asked.

"I'm gonna stay out here for awhile. Just to make sure you don't disobey me again." Jacob smirked.

Bella let out an exasperated sigh and shoved the key in the hole. When she got inside, she flipped open her phone and dialed Alice.

"Hey Bella!" Alice's voice said cheerily.

"Hey Alice, can you and Carlisle come over?" Bella asked. "He did it again. He's still out front waiting for me to try to leave. Please, use the back door."

"Okay, we'll be there soon." Alice answered.

Bella snapped the phone shut and headed for her room. She changed into some sweats and a t-shirt while she waited for them.

**ALICE**

Alice snapped the phone shut and Jasper looked up from his book questioningly.

"The mutt strikes again." she said sadly.

"Is she coming here?" Jasper asked.

"No, he's waiting outside for her to try to leave. So Carlisle and I are gonna go to her." Alice answered. She kissed him on the cheek and went downstairs to find Carlisle.

He was sitting in the living with Esme. They were both reading.

"Hey Carlisle." Alice said.

"Yes, Alice." Carlisle answered.

"Can you come with me to Bella's." she asked. "He hurt her again and he's waiting outside to see if she leaves."

"Certainly." he answered. "Do you know about the damage?"

Alice shook her head and Carlisle zoomed up the stairs. He was back within a second with his bag.

"Let's go." he said and kissed Esme goodbye.

Alice and Carlisle ran through the woods knowing it would be less discreet than driving. When they reached the edge of the woods that opened to Bella's backyard, Alice's nostrils were filled with the smell of dog.

"Go in and check Bella out. I want to have a chat with the mutt." Alice said. She couldn't be this close to him and not do something.

"Okay but be careful." Carlisle said as he walked in the back door.

Alice stayed under the cover of the trees and moved to the front of the house. She saw him leaning against Bella's truck with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked ready to kill. Alice thought about a sneak attack on him but...

"What are you doing here, bloodsucker?" he said without turning around.

Alice cursed the extra sensitive senses of werewolves.

"I just wanted to make sure my best friend was okay." Alice said defensively.

"She's fine." Jacob replied.

"Well, she didn't sound fine when I talked to her a few minutes ago." Alice stated.

"I can assure you that she's perfectly alright."

"We'll see what Carlisle has to say. He's checking on her now."

"I told her not to call any of you."

"Yeah, see, Bella really doesn't take orders."

"A habit I'm trying to break her of."

"Take my advice, dog. Stop trying."

"And what will you do if I don't"

They were standing face to face and Alice was right on top of him. The only indication of discomfort from either one was their scrunched up noses.

"I'll let my brother do to you what he's wanted to do since the first time you laid a hand on her."

"Like I'm scared of him. Besides, I have the thing he loves most. So I think no matter what I'll win."

"You won't have her too much longer if you keep trying to make her take orders."

"We'll see." he smiled at her.

"Why don't you run along home now? Carlisle and I have this under control." Alice told him not at all fazed by his attitude.

"I'm not going anyway until you two do." he replied.

"Then you'll be waiting awhile because we won't leave until you do." she said and scaled the wall to Bella's window. She jumped in.

Bella was sitting on her bed. Carlisle was looking at a spot on her forehead.

"Hey." Bella said with a small smile.

"Hey." Alice replied. "So what's the damage?"

"Just a bruise and small cut from when she fell into the dresser. You don't need stitches but she'll most likely have a scar." Carlisle explained. He turned his attention back to Bella. "Now you said he kicked you in the stomach a couple times."

Bella nodded.

"Okay, lay back." Carlisle said and she did. "Now, I'm going to press down on your stomach. Tell me when it hurt."

Alice watched as Carlisle pressed down in certain places. Bella didn't respond until he got to a the left side.

"Ow!" she exclaimed.

Carlisle pulled up her shirt a little to reveal a rather large purple bruise formed there.

"It looks like just a bruise but I'd like you to try and come in to the hospital. That way I can take a look and make sure he didn't do any damage on the inside." he stated.

"I'll try." Bella replied.

"Okay." Carlisle said and went to pick up his bag.

"Carlisle, I think we shoudl stay until Charlie gets home." Alice said not wanting to leave while Jacob could be alone with her. "I talk to Jaocb outside. He's not leaving until after we do."

"Okay, then we'll stay." Carlisle replied. "I'll call Esme and let her know."

Alice helped Bella crawl into bed.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let him know we were here. I know he won't be happy tomorrow." Alice told her.

"He would've smelled you anyway." Bella shrugged. "I can handle it."

"I wish you wouldn't have to." Alice said sadly. "Why do you feel you have to stay?"

"I don't have a choice." Bella answered. The sadness was so apparent in her voice that Alice didn't have the heart to press the matter.

She sat in the rocking chair and watched as Bella fell into an uneasy sleep.

**A/N: So what do you guys think. Please review. BTW: I'm looking for someone who could possibly make a trailer for this on youtube. If you are interested let me know. **


	6. Too Far

**A/N: I had a couple questions in a review of my last chapter so I just want to clear some things up. This story takes place after Eclipse. Just imagine a similiar conversation to the one Bella had with Jacob happening with Edward. Also, Bella is still a virgin. I think I covered everything.**

**CHAPTER 6 TOO FAR**

**BELLA**

Bella woke up the next morning to find that Carlisle and Alice had left. She got out of bed, heading for her closet when she noticed a note laying on the rocking chair. She picked it up and read,

_Dear Bella,_

_We left shortly after Charlie came home. Jacob left just before he arrived. We would've stayed but Carlisle didn't want Charlie to see us. I hope my little talk with Jacob doesn't get you in too much trouble with him. Come by later so I can check the damage. _

_L&H, _

_Alice _

She put the note back down and proceeded to her closet. She sighed at her lack of interest in doing laundry this week. All she had left to wear were skirts that Alice had bought her months ago. They still had the tags on them.

Bella stared at them for a minute then pulled out a knee length white one. She looked through her tops and found a long sleeved pink one that showed very little skin. Although, the bruises were fading, she still hated to show them and wore as much as possible whenever possible. She put the outfit on, threw her hair into a ponytail, slipped on a pair of peak flip-flops, and went downstairs.

It wasn't until she got to the kitchen and Charlie looked up at her face that she realized she forgot some cover up.

"Geez, Bells, what happened to you?" Charlie asked slightly alarmed.

"I fell into my dresser last night." Bella answered. _"At least it's not a total lie."_ she thought.

"I see." Charlie answered uncertainly. For a minute Bella thought he was going to question her further. Instead he asked, "What are you all dressed up for?"

Bella poured herself a bowl of cereal and sat at the table.

"I'm going to see Jacob and I wanted to look nice for him." she lied again. At this point she wouldn't care if she saw Jacob in just her sweats.

"That's nice. So will you be spending the whole day with him?" Charlie asked.

"Maybe just a few hours. I promised Alice, I'd spend some time with her today." Bella replied.

"You sure have been spending a lot more time at the Cullens' lately."

"Just because I'm not with Edward anymore doesn't mean I hate his family." Bella said through gritted teeth. Why couldn't anybody understand that she wasn't going there to see Edward?

"I didn't mean anything by it." Charlie said slightly offended by her tone. "It was just an observation."

"I know, I'm sorry." Bella felt bad for her tone. She wasn't mad at Charlie. It just felt like he was making the same implications as Jacob. "I just didn't get a lot of sleep last night. So what are you doing today?"

"I think, I'm going to stay here and watch some T.V." he replied.

Bella nodded. They finished their breakfast in silence. Once Bella was finished she washed her bowl and spoon and said goodbye to Charlie. She learned a few weeks ago, the earlier she got to La Push the better. That would give her less time to account for when Jacob asked. She drove her truck in the direction of La Push, dreading what he would do about her visitors last night.

When she pulled up in front of his house, he was sitting on the porch waiting for her, like always, looking angry, like always. She got out of the truck and began walking toward him.

"Hi Jake." she said and managed a smile.

He walked toward her without saying anything and grabbed her elbow pulling her into the house. She didn't even bother to tell him that he was hurting her. She knew it wouldn't make him stop. She hoped Billy was home. Maybe then Jacob wouldn't hurt her too bad. She looked around but her hopes were dashed.

"Where's Billy?" she asked as he pulled her to his room and shoved her onto his bed.

"He went to visit the Clearwaters." Jacob replied. "Now about last night. Why do you always have to disobey me? It would make things so much easier if you just listened! Do you think I like hurting you? Because I really don't but it's the only way I can teach you to listen!"

He went on yelling. Bella sat there letting it go in one ear and out the other. She was terrified waiting for the blow that never came. Eventually, he yelled himself out and sat down beside her. He put his arm around her. Confused and slightly dazed by his actions, Bella snuggled herself into his shoulder. Maybe, he was going to change.

After a minute or so, he brought his hand up to her chin and lifted it so he could kiss her. Still confused and taken by surprise, Bella kissed him back. The kiss deepened and it wasn't until Bella was laying on the bed with Jacob straddling her did she realize what he was trying to do. She broke the kiss and turned her head away. Jacob brought his hand to her face and forced her to look at him.

"You see, Bella." he whispered. "I always get what I want and you've been keeping this from me for far too long."

He began to kiss down her neck. She managed to wriggle one of her hands free from his legs and slapped him.

"Big mistake!" he yelled and punched her in the face.

She saw stars. When she came out of the daze, Jacob had both her hands pinned above her head with one of his. He had pushed her shirt above her head and was now fondeling her.

"Please, stop." she cried. He slapped her across the face and told her to shut up.

He ripped her bra off and begin kissing licking and biting her upper body. She tried to struggle against him but he was just too strong eith his werewolf genes. After a few minutes of playing around with her upper body, he flipped her skirt off, ripped off her underwear, and took off his pants.

Bella kept her eyes shut tight as she struggled and pleaded with him. He kept hitting her and telling her to cooperate. She didn't want to see his face while he was doing this to her. Tears were pouring down her face as she felt him position himself at her opening.

He put his free hand over her mouth as he rammed into her. She let out a muffled scream as the pain shot through her. She felt like he was ripping her apart as he drove himself deeper and deeper into her. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he gave one last thrust and she felt him spill into her. He collapsed on top of her and laid there for a minute breathing hard.

Bella siezed her opportunity when he released her arms and pulled himself out. First she punched him in the fast then she brought her knee up and rammed it into his groin. He grabbed himself and rolled off her to the other side of the bed. She rolled off and tried to stand. When she found she couldn't crawled as quickly as possible to her truck, hoping he would be done long enough for her to get away. She managed to get to the truck and jab her keys into the ignition. She drove off as quickly as possible.

When she realized that she was crying so bad it impaired her vision, she pulled over to the side of the road and collasped across the cab of the truck. She was hysterical and didn't know how much time had passed. At some point she heard the passenger door open. She didn't look up because she was beyond caring who it was.

"Bella, what happened?" she heard Alice's frantic voice. All she could do was contiue sobbing and shake her head. She felt Alice's hand touch her shoulder and flinched away from it. She heard ALice tell Jasper to call Carlisle then her world faded to black.

**ALICE**

Alice had spent the enitre day since she left Bella trying not to worry. She tried to distract herself with everything from online shopping to reading to painting her toenails but nothing was helping. She kept focusing on Bella's future and was coming up blank. Jasper was sitting on the couch trying to send her calming waves. They weren't working because his own anxiety over her anxiety was pushing it way through.

She looked at the clock, it was three. Time for another check. She closed her eyes and thought about Bella. She saw Bella's truck on the side of the road with Bella inside, utterly hysterical. She immediately snapped her eyes open and headed for the door.

"What is it?" Jasper asked.

"She's on the side of the road crying. I'm not sure what happened." Alice answered before darting to downstairs. Jasper was right behind her. "Esme?"

"In the kitchen." Esme said. Alice and Jasper walked to the kitchen. Esme was standing at the refridgerator throwing food into the garbage can behind her. They had to go through the food in the house every once in awhile to make sure it was still good. When you just keep food in the house to look normal, you really don't pay much attention to expiration dates.

"Where's Edward?" Alice asked.

"He and Emmett were bored so they went hunting." Esme answered. "Why?"

"What about Rosalie?" Alice pressed. She needed someone who could drive fast while she took care of Bella.

"In the garage, I think. Why?" Esme answered again.

Alice took off toward the garage as Esme and Jasper followed. She explained,

"I just had a vision of Bella. She's on the side of the road somewhere and she's really upset. I don't know what's happened but I need to get there fast."

They reached the garage as Rosalie slammed the hood of her car.

"Let's go." she said jumping into the driver's seat. Alice jumped in next to her. She was shocked when Esme and Jasper hopped in the back.

"You might need help." Esme said at Alice's questioning look.

They took off. Rosalie drove fast, even for her standards. They drove for about ten minutes when Alice spotted the truck.

"There!" she yelled. Rosalie hit the breaks and the car came to a screeching halt. Alice jumped out of the car and got in the truck. Alice could smell blood the minute she opened the door but couldn't see any of it. Bella was laying face down in the cab sobbing hysterically. "Bella, what happened?" she asked.

Bella continued sobbing into the seat and just shook her head. Alice looked her over to try to get some hint of what happened. Her hair was disheveled. She had some new bruises and cuts on her legs. The almost brand new white skirt she was wearing was ripped and there were some wholes in her shirt. She reached out to put a comfort hand on Bella's shoulder but Bella flinched at the contact.

"Jasper," Alice couldn't make her voice more than a whisper but she knew he would hear. "Call Carlisle and tell him we're taking Bella in. It's bad this time."

Alice looked back down at Bella, after making sure Jasper was doing what she said, and saw that she was no longer crying. She had a moment of panic as she checked the poor girl's pulse. It was still there. She had just passed out. Alice was guessing it was emotionak overload. Suddenly, Jasper was at the door behind her.

"He says he'll get a private room ready for her." he said. Alice could hear the discomfort in his voice. He no doubt smelled the blood too. "Do you know what happened?"

"No." Alice answered. "She passed out before I could get it out of her. I need you to help me though. I know it'll be difficult but I can't do it myself."

"What do you need?" he asked.

"I need someone to move her from the here to the car." Alice said.

"Okay." Jasper answered it.

"Are you sure you can handle it? I mean I don't even know where it's coming from so I can't tell how much there is." Alice stated.

"I can do it. I care about her just as much as the rest of you. I won't hurt her." Jasper stated. Alice just nodded and slid out of the car. Jasper slid in and pulled Bella out. It was only after Bella was out that Alice saw where the smell was coming from. The bottom of her dress and the driver seat of the car had blood all over them. _"Please god anything but that!" _she silently begged as she got into the back of Rosalie'scar and helped Jasper put slide Bella's unconcious form in. "Now, Jasper, Esme, will you two take Bella's truck back to the house. Esme, please call Charlie and tell him Bella went to a movie with me. Arrange for her to stay the night. Then bleach her seat. And if Edward comes back try not to let him find out."

Alice was surprised how the plan was just falling from her lips when all she wanted to was break down at the sight of her friend. Esme and Jasper just nodded, hopped in the truck, and took off towards the house. Rosalie put the car in gear and sped off towards the hospital.

"What did he do to her?" Rosalie asked and peered in the rearview mirror.

"You don't wanna know." Alice said not wanting to say it.

"Yes, I do." Rosalie pressed.

Alice just gave her a sad meaningful look. Rosalie understood because she stepped on the gas harder. She was going almost 200 miles per hour. Alice just stroked Bella hair as she remained on concious. When they pulled into the hospital, Carlisle was waiting out side for them. He lifted Bella out of the car.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I think he raped her." Alice said with disgust.

"Oh god!" Carlisle said as he carried her into the hospital. Alice and Rosalie right by his side. "When they got to the doors leading to the patient rooms he stopped. "I need you two to stay out here. I'll let you know the damage after I check her out." He walked through the double doors.

Alice and Rosalie sunk into the waiting room chairs. Rosalie leaned her head against the wall and Alice put her head in her hands.

"How could we have let it go this far?" Alice asked angrily.

"Alice this isn't your fault." Rosalie said. "It was Bella decision."

Alice looked up at Rosalie. She was suddenly angry with her sister.

"Don't you dare blame her for this." Alice almost growled.

"I'm not but in the end the only person who can stop it is her. She has to decide that she doesn't want to hurt anymore. Maybe this is going to be her wake up call." Rosalie stated. "Look, I know everyone thinks I hate but I don't. I hate seeing her like this just as much as the rest of you but we can't force her to leave."

"One of us could convince her." Alice stated.

"What do you mean?" Rosalie asked.

"I just need to have a talk with Edward after I find out Bella's okay."

"What good do you think that'll do?"

"I don't know but Bella told me something last night that makes me think Edward can help."

Rosalie just nodded. Alice was thankful she didn't press the issue. She needed to talk to Edward about it before she told anyone else. Rosalie put her arm around Alice and Alice rested her head on Rosalie's shoulder.

"Everything will work out." Rosalie whispered.

"I hope you're right." Alice replied.

**A/N: Well, what you think please read and review. A little note on the way Alice signed her note L&H is how I sign all my notes. It stands for Loves and Hugs and I think that's something Alice would say. And about the sister moment at the end. I realized that Bella and Alice have tons of sister moments but Rosalie and Alice don't have any. Of course, that's probably the P.O.V. thing but anyway I thought it would be nice to put one with those to in. I hope you like. **


	7. Be Strong for Her

**CHAPTER 7 BE STRONG FOR HER **

**BELLA **

Two hours later, Bella regained conciousness. When she opened her eyes she found herself in a hospital room. She hurt everywhere and she had an ivy in her. It took her a minute to remember what happened to her.

When the memory of Jacob's body on top of hers, ripping into her came back she choked on a sob. Why would he do that to her? She still didn't understand. At the same time she worried what he would do now that people knew. She would be in so much trouble. She had to get out of here before he found out. She pulled the blanket of herself and went to stand up but found she couldn't. It hurt too much.

The door opened just as she collapsed back onto the bed. She looked up to see Carlisle standing there looking extremely worried.

"Bella, you're awake. Thank god." he said as he walked to her and began checking her vitals. "Do you remember what happened?"

"Yes." Bella answered on the verge of a break down.

"You been unconcious for a couple hours. I examined you. You have some severe vaginal tearing. It's possible that children won't be a possibility for you. I'm sorry. That; however is the worst of it. You have some cuts and bruises on your legs, arms, and breasts. That's it."

Bella just nodded slightly dazed. She was no longer afraid because Carlisle was there and he wouldn't let Jacob near her. She was still having a hard time wrapping her mind around what Jake had done to her.

"There are some things we need to discuss." Carlisle said sounding very serious. Bella did her best to focus all her attention on him. "You aren't well wnough to not be in a doctor's care but do to the supernatural nature of the sitiuation the authorities can not find out about the abuse or the rape. If there was an investigation, we could all end up exposed. I know you don't want that."

Bella simply shook her head. As much as she hated Jacob right now, she didn't want to see him or the pack or the Cullens dead or worse studied.

"So what do we do?" Bella asked.

"I'm going to write in my report that you fell in a ditch and Alice found you." Carlisle explained. "Esme has already arranged with Charlie for you to spend a few days at our house. Alice went over and did your laundry. She, also, packed some clothes for you. I will discharge you shortly. Rosalie and Alice are in the waiting room. They'll come back and help you into some clothes and take you to the house. I will observe you from there. You can go home once I'm satisfied that you are healing."

Bella nodded.

"Does the _whole_ family know?" Bella asked. She hoped he understood the emphasis on whole.

"Emmett and Edward just got back from a hunting trip. Esme told Emmett but everyone's been trying to block it from Edward. Carlisle replied. "We wanted to ask you if you wanted him to know before anyone said anything.

"It's going to be pretty difficult to hide from him. Just make sure he doesn't do anything stupid when he finds out." Bella answered. "I don't want him to regret anything else in his life because of me."

Carlisle nodded and stared at her for a minute. Bella had the feeling he was debating whether or not to say what he was thinking. Finally, he took a deep breath and said,

"You know, he doesn't regret anything in life because of you. I'll send the girls in so you can change. I'll be back in a couple minutes with the discharge papers.

**AN HOUR LATER...**

Rosalie pulled her car into the garage. Emmett was waiting for them by the door. He opened Bella's door and lifted her from the car effortlessly. He carried her to the couch in the living room. Esme offered to make her something to eat but she declined.

The family was very attentive and helped her get comfortable. She found that she felt very safe in their care. She also realized that she didn't care if Jacob found out where she was. Hell, she didn't even care if he came here to get her. Her family would protect her from them just like they always had.

Once she was settled, Bella noticed that Alice drifted off upstairs.

**EDWARD**

Edward knew since he and Emmett returned from their hunting trip that something was going on. He figured it had something to do with Bella and that mutt because he was the only one left out of the loop.

Part of him had decided that he didn't want to know. That was the part of him the was fighting to stop loving Bella. The part of him that kept saying she was no longer his responsibility. It kept reminding him that she didn't love or care for him anymore so why should he still care about her.

The other part of him wanted to know. That was the part of him that knew, no matter how much he fought, he would never stop loving her. It kept reminding him that Jacob didn't deserve her. The part that was convinced Bella would walk away before it was to late.

The two parts fought each other as he debated about trying to get into his brothers and sisters heads. A knock on the door pulled him out of his internal debate.

"Come in." he said softly knowing whoever it was would hear.

The door opened and Alice stepped in. She looked like she was terrified to be there.

"What's up?" he asked. She made her way over to the couch and sat.

"I need to talk to you about something but first I need you to avoid reading my thoughts." Alice stated. "I want you to hear the words."

Edward nodded and did his best to push away Alice's thoughts.

"As you've probably figured out, something happened with Bella and Jacob today." Alice stated. Edward nodded. "I'm not sure of everything, she's not ready to talk about it, but Jacob raped her."

Edward sat there for a moment and let the words sink in. When they did he felt utter rage running through his entire body. He wanted to break something or rather someone.

"He did what?" Edward breathed trying to keep Alice talking so he wouldn't leave.

"He raped her. I found her because I hads a vision of her truck on the side of the road. She was hysterical when we found her and passed out shortly after." Alice explained. Edward kept his focus on her. He had to keep telling himself that attacking Jacob would start a war with the pack, who probably had no idea what the dog was doing. "We took her to Carlisle right away. He wants to observe her for a few days, just to make sure that she's starting to heal. Though, due to the fact that we can't go to the authorities, she couldn't stay in the hospital. People would ask questions. So we're keeping her here until Carlisle is satisfied."

Edward sighed as he let go of some of his anger. He was glad that his family was there to take care of her, even if it meant him spending a few days away.

"So, I guess I'll be taking a little trip." he said.

"Actually, I was hoping you wouold stay this time." Alice said quietly.

"Why?"

"Because I think it'll help her."

"What's that mean?"

"I'm not sure. I have a theory though. I was talking to her last night and I asked her why she kept putting herself through all this. She told me that she didn't have a choice. I didn't aske anumore question but I've been wondering about it all night and day. I think I understand know." Alice started. "You know how Bella is she doesn't think very much of herself. Well, the first problem is what that asshole is doing to her. It's making her think even less of herself. That also brings up the problem of her feeling that if she leaves him, she'll be alone for the rest of her life. She doesn't believe that any one else will love her. Mostly though, she thinks that she's completely lost you and that makes her feel worse about herself."

She said all this very face. Though, Edward caught every word, he had a hard time understanding all of it.

"So are you telling me she thinks she deserves it because of me?" Edward question.

"Something like that. She doesn't think that she can be happy again because you are the only one, other than Jacob that ever really loved her. She thinks that you don't love her anymore and so she thinks that Jacob is the only one she has." Alice answered.

"How do you know all this?"

"She's my best friend. I don't need your power to know how she feels. It's just a simple matter of observing and I've observed a lot about her in the past month. Especially, the way her face falls when you don't seem to care that she's hurt."

"So how do I change things?"

"Well, you could start by going down there and trying to talk to her and help take care of her. Do something to indicate that you still care. Then when your ready, tell her how much you still care. I know it's hard and it's going to hurt you a lot to see her like that but you can't keep running from it. If you do, we'll lose her and I know you don't want that."

"No, I don't. I'll head down in a minute."

"Okay." Alice said and walked out the door.

He needed a minute to think about what Alice had just told him. How could she think that he didn't care? He wanted nothing more than to pound the life out of that stupid dog. Maybe Alice was right though, he just kept running from it. That was probably why Bella thought that about him. He hadn't given her a reason not to. He would just leave her in the care of his family and walk away like her pain meant nothing.

He realized in that moment that his pain of seeing her constantly hurt was nothing compared to her constant hurt. It was then that he decided from now on he would be strong for her. He'd do anything to make sure that she was taken care of. Mostly though, he wouldn't run from her pain because it was in those moments that she needed him the most.

With that last thought, he headed downstairs to talk to her for the first time since the break up.

**A/N: This chapter and the next one were orginally supposed to be one but this part turned out longer than I planned so I split them up. Enjoy. Free cookies for those who review!**


	8. Stay with Me

**A/N: I've been hearing in my reviews that there isn't enough Edward in the story. I happen to agree with that assessment and therefore have made this chapter 99.999 percent Edward. And fair warning, I know one of my readers has only read the first book of the series, this one does contain a small New Moon spoiler. You probably won't realize it if you haven't read New Moon but I thought I'd just mention it. Enjoy! **

**CHAPTER 8 STAY WITH ME**

**NARRATOR**

The days that followed were good. Jacob only called Bella once. She told him that she was going to stay at the Cullens' until Carlisle was satisfied with the healing process and they'd talk about it later. All of the Cullens went temporarily deaf during this conversation. They didn't want to upset her too much in her current state and said nothing about her going back.

Everyone was very attentive. It made Bella feel a little weird but Carlisle told her that he didn't want her walking for a couple days. That meant if she couldn't get it from where she was sitting, someone else had to get it for her. When she had to go to the bathroom, someone would have to carry her.

Edward went downstairs on the first day. He sat on the chair furtherest away from the couch. It was awkward and difficult at first. He only spoke when he asked her if she needed anything every half hour. He also told her that if she got uncomfortable on the couch, he would take her up to the bed that was still in his room. She declined the offer. After a few hours, he began joining in on conversations his brothers and sisters were having with Bella.

Things remained very awkward until three days after the "incident."

**EDWARD**

Edward was sitting on the couch flipping through channels not really watching anything. Everyone had things to do today so he opted to stay with Bella. She had fallen asleep so Edward carried her to the bed. He wanted to give her some more room. Plus, he knew she only declined because she didn't want to be a bother.

In a way he was glad that the family left him alone with her. He was still fighting the urge to go down to La Push and beat the shit out of the mutt. The only thing keeping him there was knowing Bella would be alone and defenseless. He had no way of knowing if the mutt was outside waiting for her to be alone. Just as that thought was running through his head, Bella cries pierced it.

"No! Jacob, stop! Please, let me go!"

Edward was off the couch and up the stairs within a second. He opened the door to his room, ready to attack but all he found saw was Bella thrashing on the bed, tears streaming down her face. He ran to her side and began stroking her hair.

"Bella, it's okay. I'm here. You're safe. He can't hurt you, right now. I won't let him." he continued to say this to her, silent;y cursing the mutt.

Bella's eyes finally snapped open. She looked at him for a minute, pure terror on her face, but when she realized he wasn't Jacob, she broke down completely. Edward did the only thing he could think to do. He scooped her up in his arms and held her tight as she sobbed into his chest. He kept telling her that he wouldn't let Jacob hurt her.

After a half hour, Bella calmed and pulled her head off of his chest. She looked up at him for minute and jerked herself away from him. She retreated to the couch and wiped the tears from her face.

"I'm so sorry, Edward." she said her voice cracking. This confused him.

"What do you have to be sorry for?" he asked.

"I'm being so selfish." Bella stated and went on before he could contradict, "I broke your heart and here I am running to your family with my problems. I keep making you have to go away. I'm so sorry."

"Bella, stop." he said. "First of all, this family considers you part of it, regardless of our relationship. To tell you the truth, Alice has considered you a sister since I saved you from the truck." He looked up to see the confused look on Bella's face. "I'll explain later but the point is once you're a member of this family, you always will be and we'd do anything for our family. Besides, I would be very upset if you didn't think you could come here to feel safe."

Bella just nodded. From the look on her face, though, Edward could tell this hit too close to the subjects that she didn't want to talk.

"So how did I get up here?" she asked.

"After, you fell asleep, I figured you might like a little more room to move and brought you up here." he answered. He could feel even more awkwardness.

"Where is everyone?"

"Carlisle's at the hospital. Esme went to get some more food for you. Rosalie and Emmett are hunting. And since you're out of comission right now, Alice made Jasper her shopping buddy."

Bella let out a laugh.

"I should probably apologize to him. So it's just me and you then?" she asked. 

"Yeah, but if you're not comfortable I can go downstairs." he didn't want to make things harder on her.

"No, stay. I miss talking to you." she said. To Edward it sounded almost pleadingly.

"Okay,what do you want to talk about?"

"Tell me about Alice and me after the van."

Edward explained about the meeting the family had after the whole thing with the van. He explained that Alice's vision of he and Bella becoming firends is what saved the situation. He told her how after that all Alice wanted to do was meet her.

Bella laughed a lot at the story. Things got more comfortable after that. Edward told her some other older family stories. Bella told him things about the pack and Charlie. They discussed how she had no idea what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. They had silently agreed to keep the conversation away from the situation with Jacob and Edward and Bella's relationship.

Bella remained on the couch, curled in a ball. Edward kept himself on the bed, on the furtherest end from the couch. He was trying to make sure that she didn't get uncomfortable or upset.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, Edward began catching the happy, bubbly thoughts of Alice and the disgruntled, irritated thoughts of Jasper. He laughed.

"What?" Bella asked.

"Alice and Jasper are back." he replied. "And Jasper isn't very happy."

Bella laughed.

"And a little warning, she bought you some new clothes." he informed her so she wasn't caught of guard.

"Great." she replied and rolled her eyes. Edward laughed.

The door downstairs opened and closed.

"Hello!" Alice called in a sing song voice.

"We're upstairs." Edward said in a normal voice. "We'll be down in a minute."

"Okay." Alice said.

"Can you walk?" Edward asked. Carlisle said it's a good time for her to start trying but Edward didn't want to make her. "Or do you want me to carry you?"

"If you could help me, I'd like to try to walk." she answered. He was in front of the couch within a second.

Bella took his offered hand and he helped her stand up. He put her arm around his shoulder and they slowly headed for the door. All the way down the stairs, he had to fight the urge to kill Jacob as he felt her flinch with every other step.

They finally made it downstairs, they found Jasper and Alice sitting on the couch with the bags in the corner of the living room. As he helped Bella sit on the couch next to Alice, he caught a glimpse of Alice's thoughts.

_"Things are going well, I see." _

Edward just gave her a small half smile and then she turned her attention to Bella.

"So I bought you a couple outfits, you wanna see?" she asked.

"Maybe later, Alice. I'm kind of tired." Bella answered.

"Okay." Alice replied sounding slightly disappointed.

"Do you want anything to eat?" Edward said knowing she must be hungry.

"Maybe just a little." Bella replied. Edward nodded and headed to the kitchen. Alice followed.

"So what happened?" she asked in a whisper.

"She fell asleep, I took her upstairs, she had a nightmare and cried for a little bit. Then we talk about stuff." Edward replied, a little annoyed with her pushiness.

"Did you talk about the thing?" she pressed.

"No we didn't."

"Why not?"

"Because she was upset enough about her dream! I didn't want to make it any worse. Besides, I think I'm gonna wait until Carlisle tells her she's okay enough to leave."

"Why?"

"Because if it doesn't go well, I don't want to mess up what little we got back today."

Alice simply nodded. Edward opened the fridge and pulled out a bag of carrot sticks and a bottle of ranch dressing. Alice had already pulled two bowls out of the cabinet for him. He put some carrot sticks in one bowl and some ranch in the other. When he put the things back, he pulled out a diet soda for her.

Alice grabbed the bowls and the two headed back to the living room. When they reached the living room, Bella and Jasper weren't talking but Edward got the impression that they were having a conversation that they didn't want Alice to hear. He figured it was the shopping thing. He and Alice handed Bella her stuff and sat down.

The four talked about random things for the rest of the afternoon. When Esme came home, Edward, Alice, and Jasper helped her corry things in and put them away. Edward found that he liked this normal human activity. Rosalie and Emmett returned shortly after .

When Carlisle came home around nine, he requested that everyone give him a minute with Bella. He told them that he had to talk with her then check her out. Edward went upstairs and tried hard not to eavesdrop but he just had to make sure it wouldn't upset her too much. So he dipped into Carlisle thoughts for a minute.

Carlisle was telling Bella that he made Sam aware of the situation between her and Jacob. He explained that Sam promised not to say anything about it to Jacob because they didn't want to get Bella into trouble. Sam said he and the pack would keep an eye out when they were together. He said they would do what they could to keep Jacob from hurting too much.

Edward pulled out when Carlisle started the exam.

**FOUR DAYS LATER...**

Carlisle told Bella that he was satisfied that she was beginning to heal. He was going to allow her to leave that day. The first thing Bella did was call Jacob. She told him that she would shower and then meet him in La Push so they could discuss the situation. Edward found himself so angry when he walked in the living room while she was talking to him.

Why was she still doing this to herself? Reagardless, of what would happen when she left him, she didn't need to put up with all of it. She wasn't happy but she deserved happiness more than anyone. Why was she subjecting herself to the misery? Did she really believe that she deserved it? He hoped talking to her before she left would make a difference.

He waited until she had said goodbye to everyone then he asked the family for a minute alone. Everyone scattered throughout the house. He knew they would all be listening but at least this way it felt more private. He stood there looking at Bella for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts.

"I don't mean to be pushy but I really got to get going. What's up?" she asked.

"Why do you go back?" he finally choked out.

"Because he loves me. I know he does but he just loses control sometimes. It's hard for him to control his anger with his werewolf genes." she said.

"Don't give me that bullshit." he said. He found that he was angry, not with her but with the mutt. "If I can be around you as much as I was and keep it under control enough to not eat you then he can keep it under control enough to not hit you! And if what he does in love then you must think I hate you!"

This was not going the way he planned. He didn't want to be angry. He didn't want her to be upset. He mostly definately did not what his words to hurt her. He failed on all these things. He watched the tears roll done her face.

"Look, Edward just stop." she finally said. "Don't lecture me about this. I don't need that!"

"I'm sorry." he replied. "I didn't mean for it to come out like this. I don't want to fight about what he does nor about how he feels about you. I just wanted to say that I still love you. And I always will. I will wait for you forever but please don't make me. Stay with me now. Don't go back to him. Please!"

He hadn't meant for it to come out like that. He sounded like he was begging her to stay. He didn't want that to happen. He wanted to sound strong for her. He stood there for a minute staring into her eyes. As he watched the different emotions, fear, pain, sadness, hapiness, and hope flash quickly accross them, he desperately needed to see inside her head. When she spoke it came out as a kind of sob.

"I can't." she said.

"Why not?" he asked.

"It's just too much. I'm sorry, Edward but I really got to go." she said and opened the door. "Tell Carlisle, I said thanks for everything!"

With that said she stepped out. Edward punched the wall next to him and his fist went right through. He felt a hand on his shoulder and her Alice's thought before she said anything,

_"It's not your fault." _

"Don't even say it." Edward said before she could get a word in. He had been battling with this guilt for the whole month. "How could it not be my fault? I left her all those months ago. If I had stayed she would've never had to turn to him. They would've never gotten that close! And she would've never become so dependent on him!"

"You don't know that?" Alice said. "As close as Charlie and Billy are they would've spent some time around each other. Besides, when we left, we only did it to protect her."

"Fat lot of good that did!" Edward yelled. "It drove her into the arms of a pshycotic werewolf! It doesn't matter though because I give up! I don't know how to stop this! I just poured my soul out to her and she walked away!"

"She just might need time for it to sink in!" Alice argued.

"Well, hopefully that happens before your first vision comes true!" Edward yelled. He needed to get away from this. Running may not be the best idea but it was the easiest. He grabbed his keys off the dining room table and walked out the door.

**ALICE**

Alice sank to the floor as she listened to the tires of Edward's volvo squeal down the driveway. Her plan for Edward to save her had failed. Now, she had no idea what to do to help her best friend. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Jasper next to her. The rest of the family had drifted in to see what they could do to help. Alice looked into all of there faces.

"He's right." she said her throat felt dry. "There's nothing else we can do."

**A/N: I hope this chapter turned out okay. It didn't go the way I planned. Please don't yell at me. I promise Bella does have a reason. That you'll get in this next chapter. Please, no angry mobs. Please review but don't yell at me. **


	9. I Can't

**A/N: Okay, a few things before I get started. First, I may have given off the impression that Sam was letting the situation just roll off his shoulders. That is not true! You'll get more from that end in this chapter. Also, bear with me on this chapter because this is the first time I've written a set of chapters like this, I will do the best I can. I apologize if it comes out bad. **

**CHAPTER 9 I Can't **

**NARRATOR**

The days that followed were good. Jacob only called Bella once. She told him that she was going to stay at the Cullens' until Carlisle was satisfied with the healing process and they'd talk about it later. All of the Cullens went temporarily deaf during this conversation. They didn't want to upset her too much in her current state and said nothing about her going back.

Everyone was very attentive. It made Bella feel a little weird but Carlisle told her that he didn't want her walking for a couple days. That meant if she couldn't get it from where she was sitting, someone else had to get it for her. When she had to go to the bathroom, someone would have to carry her.

Edward went downstairs on the first day. He sat on the chair furtherest away from the couch. It was awkward and difficult at first. He only spoke when he asked her if she needed anything every half hour. He also told her that if she got uncomfortable on the couch, he would take her up to the bed that was still in his room. She declined the offer. After a few hours, he began joining in on conversations his brothers and sisters were having with Bella.

Things remained very awkward until three days after the "incident."

**BELLA**

_Bella was lying in Jacob's bed. She could feel the heat of his body on top of hers. She heard herself screaming and begging for him to stop. He was hitting her and telling her to lay still. She could feel his lips, tongue and teeth all over her upper body. _

_She was begging for him to stop but he kept on hitting her and telling her it would be easier if she just laid still. He hand went over her mouth and she knew what was about to happen. She felt him position himself above her and just before he rammed himself in, she heard a distant voice,_

_"Bella, it's okay. It's Edward. I'm here. He can't hurt. I won't let him." _

_She closed her eyes and fucused on the voice as Jacob continued what he was doing. She tried to ignore the pain and keep thinking of the words in the back of her mind._

Bella snapped her eyes open. She was lying in a bed and there was a shadow over her. She was scared for a minute but then she realized it was only Edward. That's when she broke down completely. She felt him wrap his arms around her and hold her. She felt him stroking he hair. He kept whispering that he wouldn't let Jacob hurt her while she was here.

She felt safe and loved in his arms. This was the way she wished she felt when Jacob held her. She hated feeling like his prize instead of his girlfriend. She stayed there and cried it all out.

When she was done the reality of the situation hit her. She looked up into his face and saw the pain written all over his face. She pulled herself away from him and crawled off the bed on to the couch. She curled herself into a ball and wiped the tears away.

How could she be so selfish?

"I'm so sorry, Edward." she said her voice cracking. She looked into his face to see some confusion mixed with the pain.

"What do you have to be sorry for?" he asked.

Did he not think she was being selfish?

"I'm being so selfish." she stated and quickly went on so he didn't have a chance to contradict her. "I broke your heart and here I am running to your family with my problems. I keep making you have to go away. I'm so sorry."

"Bella, stop." he said. He sounded stern but understanding. "First of all, this family considers you part of it, regardless of our relationship. To tell you the truth, Alice considered you a sister since I saved you from the van."

Bella was slightly confused by that. Technically, she hadn't even met Alice, yet. How could Alice consider her family? Her confusion must have shown on her face because Edward said,

"I'll explain later. The point is once you are consider part of this family, you always will be and we do anything for family. Besides, I'd be very upset if you didn't think you could come here to feel safe."

It was something Bella needed to hear but it also passed into the realm of awkwardness. She didn't want it to go there so she searched her mind for a change of subject.

"How did I get up here?" she finally asked.

"After you fell asleep, I figured you want some more room and brought you up here." he answered.

That was even more awkward so she tried again. In the silence, she realized that it was to quiet for the Cullen household.

"Where is everyone?" she asked.

"Carlisle's at the hospital. Esme went to get you some more food. Rosalie and Emmett are hunting. And since you're out of commission right now, Alice made Jasper her shopping buddy.

Bella laguhed at this.

"I should probably apologize to him." she said and then realized went everyone being gone meant. "So it's just me and you then?"

"Yeah, but if you are not comfortable, I can go downstairs." Edward answered.

Bella didn't want him to leave. She felt better with him there and she missed talking to him.

"No, stay. I miss talking to you." she said practically pleading.

"Okay, what do you wanna talk about?"

"Tell me about Alice and me with the van."

She listened as he told her about the family meeting they had about how to handle Edward exposing his powers to Bella. He told her that they couldn't agree on anything to do. He said that it wasn't until Alice told them about a vision she had of Bella and her becoming good friends that they decided to see how things played out. He also mentioned, from that point on, Alice kept bugging him to meet her.

She laughed a lot during the story. To her it was classic Alice. Things got more comfortable after that. She listened to him telling stories about the family before she met them. Bella informed him about things that were happening with the pack and stuff with Charlie. She told him that she wasn't sure what she watnted to do with the rest of her life. They disucssed some possibilities for her.

She didn't know why but some how it felt like they made a silent agreement not to mention Jacob or Edward and her relationship. She stayed curled up in a ball on the couch. She wanted to get closer but she didn't want to put him through anymore pain. She firgured, though, that from the way he stayed as far away from her as possible, he didn't want her any closer to him.

At three o'clock, Edward laughed but neither of them had said anything funny.

"What?" she asked.

"Alice and Japser are back." he answered. "And Jasper isn't very happy."

Bella laughed. She made a mental note to do something nice for Jasper.

"And a little warning, she bought you some new clothes." Edward said with a slight smile.

"Great." she replied and rolled her eyes. As much as she loved Alice, she did get frustrating when it came to fashion. Edward laughed at her reaction.

Bella heard the front door open and close.

"Hello!" Alice yelled. Bella knew it was only for her benefit. Alice knew that every vampire in the house would hear her even if she whispered.

"We're upstairs." Edward replied as if Alice was in the same room. "We'll be down in a minute." '

"Okay." Alice yelled.

"Can you walk or would you like me to carry you?" Edward asked. Carlisle said that it was okay for her to start walking as long as she didn't push herself. She decided to give it a try.

"If you could help me, I'd like to try to walk." she responded. He was in front of the couch in a second. She took his offered hand and let him pull her up. She let him put her arm around his shoulder. It didn't hurt as bad as it did three days ago but she still had moments when it hurt. It was only times when she took to big of a step or tried to go too fast. She flinched as the pain shot through her abdomen whenever this happened.

When the finally reached the living room, Alice and Jasper were sitting on the couch and had stored the bags in a corner. As they made their way past Jasper, Bella caught his eye and mouthed I'm sorry. Jasper just smiled and rolled his eyes.

When Edward helped her sit next to Alice, Bella noticed Alice giving Edward a meaningful look and Edward just gave her a little smile. Bella just rolled her eyes and figured they were having another one of their silent conversation. Once she was comfortable, Alice turned her attention in Bella's direction.

"I got you some new outfits. You wanna see?" she asked.

"Maybe later, Alice. I'm kinda tired." Bella replied. It wasn't a total lie. The dream and her conversation with Edward made her a little emotionally drained.

"Do you want anything to eat?" Edward asked. She smiled inside. It was nice to know that he was paying attention and taking care of her, even though as messed up as their relationship was right now.

"Maybe a litte." she replied. Edward nodded and headed to the kitchen. Alice followed.

Jasper had moved from the couch to the armchair farthest away. Bella wasn't offended by this. She knew it was a little harder for Jasper to control himself around her.

"I'm sorry you had to go with Alice today. I know how irritating she can be when it comes to clothes and shopping." Bella said.

Jasper shrugged and said,

"It okay. Being irritated is worth it if I get to spend some extra time with her."

Bella looked at the floor when he said that. She felt a twinge of sadness in her stomach. She wished Jacob would act like that. Hell, she wished Jacob would say something like that about her, even if it was just talk.

Jasper must have sensed her sadness because he said,

"You deserve so much better than him. You don't deserve to be treated like a punching bag. You deserve respect and love."

Somewhere deep down, she knew he was right but wasn't ready to admit it to herself yet. Thankfully, Alice and Edward came back and she didn't have to respond. The two handed her carrots, dip, and a diet soda. Alice sat down on Jasper's lap and Edward sat next to Bella.

The four talked about random things for the rest of the afternoon. When Esme came home, Edward, Alice, and Jasper helped her corry things in and put them away. Bella smiled at how they treated such a normal human activity. Most people would have complained about having to take care of groceries but it was something the Cullens did once in a great while. They had fun doing it. No doubt taking turns showing off.

Esme joined them in the living when they were finished. Rosalie and Emmett returned shortly after.

When Carlisle came home around nine, he requested that everyone give him a minute with Bella. He told them that he had to talk with her then check her out. Everyone went their own seperate ways. Bella knew the conversation wouldn't be completely private but she admired that they were trying to respect her privacy.

Carlisle sat on the couch in front of her.

"I talked to Sam today." Carlisle said. Bella was not expecting this. Her breath hitched and her heart started beating faster. She had to tell herself to calm down. "I made him away of what Jacob has been doing."

"No...why...If Jacob...Oh god!" Bella couldn't form a sentence. She was going to be in so much trouble. Why would Carlisle do that to her?

"Calm down, Bella." Carlisle said. "Sam wanted to call Jacob on it and stop him from doing it. I told him that you weren't ready for that. I also told him that if Jacob found out he knew, you would get into trouble. So against his better judgement, he is going to do his best to keep Jacob and the pack from finding out he knows. He is going to keep an eye on the two of you when you're there. In secret, of course. He's going to get some of the pack to help. He won't say why." Carlisle explained.

This eased her panic. She knew if Carlisle said things would be okay, they would be. She liked having him here. If she couldn't talk to her own father about what was happening, then she was glad she had someone she trusted like a father. Carlisle was taking care of her like a father would too.

Part of her thought that he really did want her as a daughter.

"Okay, why don't we head up to my study, so I can take a look." Carlisle said as she came out of her thoughts. She let Carlisle support her up the stairs.

**FOUR DAYS LATER...**

Carlisle told Bella that he was satisfied that she was beginning to heal. He was going to allow her to leave that day. The first thing Bella did was call Jacob. She told him that she would shower and then meet him in La Push so they could discuss the situation. She was glad when the family said nothing once she got off the phone. For her, going back after this past week was going to be hard enough.

She said good bye and thank you to everyone. She promised she would be back some time later in the week. Just before she was about to leave, Edward asked the family to give them a minute alone. Once again the family left the room. Just like before, Bella knew it wouldn't be completely private but she appreciated the effort.

Edward didn't say anything at first. He just stood there looking like he was trying to find the right words. She really needed him to spit it out. She was in enough trouble with Jacob. She didn't need him to get mad for her taking too long.

"I don't mean to be pushy but I really got to get going. What's up?" she asked.

"Why do you go back?" he finally choked out.

"Because he loves me. I know he does but he just loses control sometimes. It's hard for him to control his anger with his werewolf genes." she said. Why did the have to talk about it? Why couldn't he just let her go?

"Don't give me that bullshit." he said. The anger in his voice cut through her like a knife. "If I can be around you as much as I was and keep it under control enough to not eat you then he can keep it under control enough to not hit you! And if what he does in love then you must think I hate you!"

It hurt to know just how right he was. She had to push the thought back though. She just had to go back to Jacob. She felt tears rolling down her face.

"Look, Edward just stop." she finally said. "Don't lecture me about this. I don't need that!"

"I'm sorry." he replied. "I didn't mean for it to come out like this. I don't want to fight about what he does nor about how he feels about you. I just wanted to say that I still love you. And I always will. I will wait for you forever but please don't make me. Stay with me now. Don't go back to him. Please!"

Bella stood by the door frozen as he said the words. She had wanted to her him say that for ove a month now. She wanted nothing more than to run into his arms and feel safe from the whole world. She knew that she couldn't, though. She knew in her heart that the only reason why Jacob hadn't unleashed his anger on the Cullens was because Bella kept coming back. She didn't want to think about what he would do if she stayed with them. She couldn't risk that. not after everything that they had done for her.

"I can't." she said keeping her eyes on the floor.

"Why not?" he asked.

"It's just too much. I'm sorry, Edward but I really got to go." she said and opened the door. "Tell Carlisle, I said thanks for everything!"

She walked out the door and jumped in her truck. She held in the tears until she got to the end of the driveway, then she lost it. She cried all the way back to the house.

She had forgot that it was Monday until she got home and noticed Charlie's cruiser wasn't there. She went inside and prepared for her shower. As she let the hot water cascade over her body she tried to block out the thoughts of her current situation.

Once she got out, she threw on a pair of jeans and sweater that Alice had bought her. She threw her hair into a messy bun and put on a paire of tennis shoes. When she got into her truck and headed to La Push, she realized she was so worried about what Jacob was going to do. Her heart was almost pounding in her chest.

**A/N: I know this might be a little annoying but I thought it would be beneficial to see this from both sides. Free cookies for those who review. **


	10. Epiphany

**CHAPTER 10 Epiphany**

**BELLA**

Bella pulled up in front of Jacob's house. He was sitting on the ground waiting for her. She put the truck in park and took a couple breaths. She was trying to compose herself and prepare for the worst. When she finally got the courage to get out, she walked up to him and said hi. Her voice wavered slightly.

He looked up at her and she saw the anger in his eyes. It was so intense, for the first time in that month, Bella actually feared for her life. She fought the urge to run back to her truck and go to Edward but knew it wouldn't do her any good. If he wanted her, he would just come get her. She didn't want to cause that kind of trouble for the Cullens, not after everything they had done for her.

He got up without taking his eyes off her.

"Come on." he practically growled and headed in the direction of the garage. She followed not saying a word. Her hearts was pounding twice as hard. They spent inside and Jacob closed the door. "So, once again, you did something I told you not to!"

"Well, if you hadn't raped me, I wouldn't have had to heal! Which I couldn't do in the hospital because of what you are!" she found herself yelling at him even though she was scared to death. "Carlilse was afraid people would ask questions and then you'd all get exposed!"

"Shut up!" he yelled and backhanded her. She fell from the force. "If you would've stayed here that day, they wouldn't have found out!"

She looked up at him from the floor.

"Did you really think I'd stay after that?" she asked.

"Yes, because as your boyfriend, it's my right to take what I want when I want it!" he replied and kicked her in the stomach. She gasped to get her breath back.

"No! You don't have a right to anything involving me!" she gasped out. He kicked her again, this time in the ribs. She swore she heard a couple crack.

"Jake, calm down." she gasped out.

Her grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her head back so she was looking at him. He pulled so hard, it felt like he was trying to pull the chunk out of her head.

"I give the orders around here, not you!" he spat. "Now get up!" He released her hair.

She crawled over to the wall and used it to stand herself up. Once she was up, Jacob had closed in the gap between them and she was trapped by the wall.

"So tell me what happened between you and _the_ bloodsucker?" he said right there in her face. She knew which one he was referring to by the way he said it.

"Nothing. He helped the family take of me, that's it." she replied her voice shaking. He stared her in the face and she stared right back. She hoped nothing in her eyes told him that she realized she still loved him. Or that she found out he still loved her.

"I don't believe you!" Jacob yelled after a minute of looking at her.

"It's the truth!" she yelled back.

"Your eyes say different." he replied.

_"Damn it!" _She thought but continued to stare at him.

"So what happened between you two?" he asked. She didn't say anything. He could hurt her all he wanted but she wasn't going to give him the fuel to hurt Edward.

When she didn't answer, he clamped his hand around her neck and squeezed. She had to gasp for air. She didn't even have enough to beg him to let her go. So she used her hands to try and pry his off her neck. He was to strong for her. The more she fought the tighter tighter his grip got. She needed air but he wouldn't let go. Tears were falling from her face.

As she fought Jacob and the darkness that threatened to overcome her, flashes of face were running through her mind. Renee, Charlie and Phil, Edward, Alice, Jasper, and the rest of the Cullens. In that moment, she realized her family had been telling her the truth. She didn't deserve any of this. She deserved to be loved and taken care of. She deserved someone like Edward who would go through the worst kind of pain just to see her safe. She realized that it didn't matter that her family would gladly put themselves in danger to keep her safe. And she realized the pointlessness of her coming back. She wanted to protect her family but they were quite capable of taking care of themselves.

She wished, in that moment, that she had stayed with Edward that morning instead of trying to be noble. She laughed ironically at herself as she gave up the struggle. What she just realized and wished for didn't matter because it would all be over in a second anyway. Then just as she was about to give in to the balckness, Jacob released her. She fell to her hands and knees gasping for air.

Jacob walked to the other side of the garage and slid to the floor. Once she got her breath back and was sure he wasn't coming back over, Bella used the wall to stand again. Jacob was in the corner looking like he had just made the worst mistake of his life. If it hadn't been for everything he had done to her in the past month, Bella would've felt sorry for him. It was silent for a minute then Jacob looked up and said,

"I'm so sorry, Bells."

Bella just looked at him and shook her head. She wasn't going to fall for it anymore.

"You don't even know what that means anymore, Jake." she replied coldly. "Besides, I'm done playing your little game. I'm sick of being your punching bag. I'm sick of you treating me like I'm some kind of prize. I'm done. It's over."

She finished her little speech and tried to make for the door. Jacob was back in front of her before she even took two steps. He pinned her wrists above her head in an iron tight grip. It hurt so bad, she didn't even try to struggle.

"You aren't going anywhere." he said in a deadly whisper. "If you don't want me, I'll be damned before I let him have you back. So you can just stay here for awhile. Don't worry, I'll take care of you."

Bella heart was pounding so hard. She was hoping to get out before his senses caught up with him. Now, he had her and there was nothing she could do to get away. She did the only thing that she could, she begged.

"Jake, please, just let me go." she cried the tears falling down her cheeks. She had no idea what he was going to do.

"It's okay." he whispered and then forced his lips on hers. She tried to turn her face away from him but there was no way she could turn. He would have just forced her back anyway. She tried to move her legs and get in position to knee him again but that didn't work either.

He notice trying to move so he repositioned himself so he was pinning her legs against the wall to.

"Nice try." he whispered in between kisses on her neck.

"Please, Jake." she pleaded again. She felt him smirk into her neck before he bit her collar bone. Bella close her eyes praying for help.

A second later she heard the door crash open. She didn't want to look. Then she heard a loud frightening voice,

"Jacob, let her go, now!" It was Sam. Bella had never heard him in alpha mode before and she prayed it never happened again. She felt Jacob release her and she slid to the floor. The tears pouring down her cheeks. She heard a small scuffle and Sam cursing. She opened her eyes to see Jared and Paul standing in front of her.

"Bella," Sam was walking toward her. "Are you alright?"

She just stared.

"Did he hurt you?" Sam tried again.

She still didn't respond there was only one thought on her mind at that moment. She needed to see Edward and once she did, everything would be okay. Sam words meant nothing. Finally, just to shut him up, she voiced what she needed.

"Edward." she whispered.

Sam seemed to understand. He looked at Jared and Paul.

"Jared, take Bella and her truck to the Cullen house. Paul follow in Jacob's car and bring Jared back here." Sam told them. "I'm going to gether the rest of the pack and start a search for Jacob. I want to make sure he can't hurt her anymore. I'll call Carlilse and let him know you're on the way."

Jared and Paul nodded. Paul ran into the house. Jared picked Bella up off the ground and carried her to the truck. After sitting her in it, he said,

"I need the keys, Bells." she reached into her pocket with shaking hands and pulled them out. She curled herself into a ball on the seat and continued to cry as Jared drove.

**ALICE**

The family was now sitting on the funiture in the living room. The spent most of the afternoon trying to figure out how to keep Bella from going back to Jacob. They had come up with nothing that wouldn't end in Bella hating them. Alice was ready to just give up, like Edward. After an hour of silence, Carlisle's phone rang.

He looked at the screen then answered.

"Hello, Sam." he said. Alice's ears pricked up. She needed to hear every word.

"Carlisle, I caught Jacob with Bella today. She won't tell me what happened but I think that he was trying to rape her again." Sam explained. "I got there just in time to stop him but he got away from me. Jared's on his way over with her. I don't know if she's injured. I think she's going to need Edward. His name is the only thing I can get out of her right now."

"Thank you, Sam." Carlisle answered.

"Just make sure she stays safe until we find him." Sam replied.

"We will." Carlisle replied.

Sam said goodbye and Carlisle hung up the phone. He said,

"Jasper, call Edward, tell him to get home, Bella needs him." Jasper pulled out his phone. "Alice, go get some sweats for her to change into."

Alice did what he said.

**BELLA **

Bella cried the entire drive to the house. Jared didn't try to get her to talk about what happened. Instead, he just focused on driving and didn't say a thing. All Bella could think of on the way was seeing Edward. Once she was with him everything would be okay. She would be safe.

When the reached the house, it was Emmett who lifted her out of the car. She remembered hearing Jared tell Emmett that he put the keys under the seat. Then Jared was in the rabbit with Paul, driving away.

Bella was still crying as Emmett carried her into the house. She looked up and saw the concerned faces of every Cullen, except one, on her.

"Where's Edward?" she choked through her tears. Emmett laid her next to Alice on the couch. "I need him!"

Alice stroked her hair and said,

"He left after you did but we called him. He should be back any minute."

Bella nodded and continued to sob.

**A/N: There you all finally got what you wanted. It's not over, yet though, so don't worry. **


	11. Safe

**A/N: You guys should feel special today. You get two updates. This is because a.) I've been planning this chapter for about a week now and am excited to finally be here and b.) I've got to work til nine tomorrow night and be back at seven in the morning on Saturday so I won't have time. So I want the gift of extra reviews for two chapter in one day.**

**CHAPTER 11 SAFE**

**EDWARD**

Edward had no idea where he was going when he took off in his volvo. All he knew was that he had to get away from the pitying thoughts of his family. He knew he needed to get as far away from werewolf territory as he could because all he wanted to do was rip Jacob Black into little pieces. He drove at about two hundred miles an hour for a few minutes and ended up in Port Angeles. More specifically, he ended up on the dark street where he saved Bella from those men back when the had met.

Edward remembered the night as if it was only yesterday. He remember the anger he had to fight to keep down that night mirrored the anger hewas feeling in that moment. He remember how it was Bella's voice, not so much her words, just her voice that calmed him down. He remember their first date. Well, technically. He found himself driving to the little resturant. He sat outside for awhile and thought about their conversation that night.

That was the night she found out that he was a monster. He thought she was completely crazy that night for telling him that it didn't matter what he was. He remember that no matter how hard he tried to convince her that he was dangerous, she refused to believe it. He realized that it was a possibility that she felt the same way about Jacob. But hadn't Jacob showed her over and over this month that he was dangerous.

Edward try to shake the thoughts of Jacob away. He felt the urge to tear the stupid mongrel apart rising in his chest again. Thoughts of Jacob; however wouldn't leave him alone. He thought of all the times that he saved Bella. The van, the men in Port Angeles, James, Victoria and the army of newborns.

Was she really meant to survive all that just to die at the hands of someone who was supposed to love her? That couldn't be why he spent a good part of the last couple years saving her from death. He didn't understand why he was destined to save her from all of that but couldn't save her from one mangy mutt.

_"Maybe, she didn't want to be saved?" _He thought. No that wasn't right. He had seen all the fear and pain in her eyes when she left that day. He still couldn't understand why she just didn't stay there with him.

He would've done everything in his power to keep her safe from Jacob. She knew that he would. So why did she just leave him?

Suddenly, his phone rang and he jumped at the unexpected sound. He pulled it out and saw Jasper's number flashing.

"What is it, Jasper?" he said sounding as pathetic as he felt.

"Sam, just called." Jasper said. "You need to get home now! He caught Jacob trying to rape Bella again."

Edward let out a long low growl and put the car in drive.

"Sam stopped him." Jasper continued. "But he got away."

Edward felt the anger building up as Jasper went on talking.

"Sam is going to look for him. Jared is bringing Bella over. You need to get home because the only thing she said to Sam was your name. We think that she's gonna need you when she gets here." Jasper finished.

"And Edward, come straight back to the house!" Edward heard Carlisle yell in the back round. He sounded like a true father. "Bella needs you here not out trying to kill Jacob. Let Sam handle him!"

"Jasper, tell Carlisle, my only interest is getting back there and taking care of Bella. I'll deal with the mutt later." Edward said. He flipped the phone shut and pressed the gas harder. He wanted to get there before she did.

As much as he wanted to rip Jacob limb from limb at that moment, Bella needed him to make her feel safe. He would go to the house and take care of her. Then he'd find Jacob and make sure that Bella stayed safe.

He reached home in about twenty minutes but cursed when he saw Bella's truck already parked outside the garage. He quickly through the volvo into park behind the truck and was in the house in a matter of seconds. His whole family was sitting around the living room. Alice was sitting on the couch with a hysterical Bella in her lap.

Edward walked to Bella and gathered her into his arms. She wrapped hers around his neck and continued to sob into his chest. Without a word to anyone, Edward took her to his room and sat on the bed stroking her hair.

"It's okay. I'm here. You're safe. He can't hurt you here." He said it over and over as she sobbed. Eventually his words turned into a hum and that turned into her lullaby. An hour later she had cried herself to sleep.

Edward laid her down and kissed her forehead. Then he left the room to talk to his family. When he got to the living room, they all turned to him. He heard the same question burning in all there thoughts. _What happened?_

"She was too upset to talk." Edward answered. "She's cried herself to sleep. When she wakes up, I'll talk to her and then you can check her out Carlisle."

Everyone nodded seemingly satisfied with his answer. Alice was the only one who didn't look away from him. He didn't have to read her thoughts to know how worried she was.

"I'm sure she's going to be fine." Edward said reassuringly. "From what I could see, it didn't look too serious."

Alice nodded. Edward could hear the family thinking the same thing he was. They'd all be happier when they found out what had happened.

**BELLA**

Bella laid there curled up in Alice's lap. She was ignoring everyone's questions about what happened. She wasn't ready to say. She ignored Alice trying to get her to change into something more comfortable. She even ignored Esme's offer of food. All she wanted was Edward.

She needed him to hold her. To tell her everything would be okay. She needed him to make her feel safe. She wasn't sure how long she cried in Alice's lap but it felt like enternity before she felt strong arms pick her up from the couch. Somehow, she knew it was Edward without having to look. She wrapped her arms around his neck and continued to sob into his chest.

She was vaguely aware that he was taking her upstairs. Once there he sat on the bed with her and stroked her hair. She heard his velvety voice saying over and over,

"It;s okay. I'm here. You're safe. He can't hurt you here." Eventually his words turned into the humming of her lullaby.

After an hour of crying, she finally let the exhaustion take over her. It was the first time in a month that she felt truly safe as she drifted off.

When she woke a few hours later, Edward beside her stroking her hair.

"Hi." he wihispered.

"Hi." she said her voice hoarse from all the crying.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"A little sore." she replied then her stomach growled. "And hungry, I guess."

"Good." Edward laughed. "I mean the hungry part because Esme made sure there was still plenty of unexpired food downstairs. Can you walk?"

"I think so." she answered.

"Good because after you eat Carlisle wants to check and make sure he didn't do permenant damage." Edward answered. "Then he wants to find out what happened."

Bella noticed a slight coldness in his voice and saw the pain in his eyes. He thought she was going to leave again.

"I'm done with him." she said reassuringly. "I'm not going anywhere."

Edward smiled and wrapped his arms around her. Nothing needed to be said.

They went downstairs, hand in hand, a few minutes later. Esme had made up some eggs for her and she ate them. Everyone looked at them oddly. Bella had the feeling it was because Edward never took his hand off her. He had let go of her hand so she could eat but he put it on her leg for awhile. Then he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

Bella had a feeling they were all wanting to ask her what happened that day and Edward had told them not to.

Once Bella was finished eating, Alice put her dishes in the dishwasher (A/N: I can't remember if they actually have one but I figured, if they didn't it would be a nice touch.) as Edward led her up to Carlisle's study. His arm was around her waist this time.

The contact didn't bother her at all. In fact, it made her feel safer to have him touching her. Edward knocked when they got to the door.

"Come in." Carlisle called. Edward opened the door and led her inside. "Bella, it's nice to see you awake. How do you feel?"

"A little sore." Bella answered. "But okay."

"Good. Why don't you tell me what happened?" Carlisle answered. He was looking at Edward's arm around her waist with great interest. He gestured for them to have a seat. Edward let go of her waist but grabbed her hand again as they sat down.

Bella launched into the story of what happened when she went to La Push that day. She told him about how he strangled her and the epiphany she had in those moments. She told them about how she thought he was going to kill her. She felt Edward's grip on her hand tighten slightly as she told him about it.

Bella then moved on to how he stopped at the last minute. She told them that he sad he was sorry and how she told him that she didn't want to play the game anymore. She almost broke down again when she got to his reaction to her words.

When she finished,Carlisle didn't say anything. He just got up and looked at her arms and neck.

"Can I see your stomach?" he asked. Edward let her hand go so she could pull up her sweater. She looked down at it herself. She had a big bruise on her right side. Carlisle poked and prodded at her rib cage.

It was only then that Bella realized, her ribs didn't hurt. She could've swore he at least cracked a few.

"Well, it looks like you just have a few bruises. I want you to come into the hospital tomorrow though." Carlisle said when he was done. "I don't think you have any ribs that are cracked or broken but I want an x-ray just in case."

Bella nodded. Edward had taken her hand again.

"I'll make sure she goes." Edward said.

"I know you will." Carlisle said. "Now, I'm sure the rest of the family is waiting to hear what happened. And you can tell them that you're alright."

Bella and Edward got up and went downstairs. The family bombarded the both of them with questions. Bella wasn't ready to tell the story again so all she said to them about was that she wasn't going back.

There was an awkward moment about an hour after the family talk had started, where Alice and Edward were having one of there silent conversations. It looked like Alice was insisting on doing or saying something that Edward didn't want her to. His hand still hadn't left Bella.

Finally Alice said,

"If you aren't gonna tell her then I will."

"Alice, she doesn't need to know, right now." Edward said.

"What don't I need to know?" Bella asked.

"Nothing." Edward answered. Bella smiled to herself. Things were difinately back to normal. Edward was being overprotective. Bella fixed one of her I can handle it stares on him. "Fine." he said after staring at her for a minute. "Jacob took off after Sam stopped him. The pack can't find him."

Bella found that she wasn't at all alarmed by this. In fact, when Edward told her she just snuggled herself closer to him and held him tighter. He tightened his own grip slightly and kissed her forehead.

She knew everything would be okay. She had Edward again and she knew he would protect. Nothing could scare her in that moment while she was sitting in his arms. He was there with her and he would keep her safe.

**A/N: So what do you guys think of this one. Do you think it was too much for me having them pick things up where they left off? Also, would you like to see Bella's part of this from Edward's side. Let me know what you wanna see. If you don't like the way this one came out let me know. **


	12. Back to Normal

**A/N: I got off work a little early today so I decided to give you guys something. This chapter doesn't really enhiance the plot much. I just really wanted to write it. I thought it would be nice to see Bella's part of Chapter 11 from Edward's side. I hope it doesn't annoy you guys. **

**CHAPTER 12 BACK TO NORMAL**

**EDWARD**

Edward sat in the living room in silence with his family for an hour. He finally got sick of their pitying glances and worried thoughts and went back to his room. He looked at his angel asleep peacefully on the bed. He couldn't fathom how anyone would want to hurt something so beautiful. He sat beside her and began stroking her hair.

He felt guilty because part of him wanted her to be hurt bad enough where Carlisle would make her stay again. That way he knew Jacob wouldn't be able to hurt for a couple more days. He laid next to her stroking her hair for another hour or so before her chocolate brown eyes fluttered open

"Hi." he whispered.

"Hi." she said her voice hoarse from all the crying.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"A little sore." she replied then her stomach growled. Edward chuckled slightly. "And hungry, I guess."

"Good." Edward laughed. "I mean the hungry part because Esme made sure there was still plenty of unexpired food downstairs. Can you walk?"

"I think so." she answered.

"Good because after you eat Carlisle wants to check and make sure he didn't do permenant damage." Edward answered. "Then he wants to find out what happened."

Once again, Edward felt guilty. He could hear the pain and coldness in his own voice. He didn't want her to have to deal with that to. She needed to heal not worry about his pain and worry about her going back. She seemed to know what he was thinking because she said reassuringly,

"I'm done with him. I'm not going anywhere."

Words could not express the happiness that suddenly filled Edward at hearing those words. He did the only thing he had wanted to do for over a month now. He threw his arms around her and pulled her close. He was surprised and even happier when she reciprocated his actions.

They went downstairs, hand in hand, a few minutes later. Esme had eggs waiting on the table for her. The family was waiting in the dining room too. He knew they all noticed that he and Bella were holding hands. He released it when she started to eat but he wasn't ready for the contact to end, so he placed it on her leg. Eventually, he wrapped it around her shoulder.

He could hear variations of the same question in all of their heads. _"What was going on between the two of them?" _He also noticed that they were all burning to ask Bella what happened. They all refrained because Edward had told them to, while Bella was asleep.

The only one whose mind wasn't burning with curiousity was Rosalie's. Hers was full of worry which surprised Edward. It surprised him even more to find that the worry was for Bella. Her thoughts were a little crazy though.

_"What if they are back togther? Was Bella ready for another relationship? I know how hard it is to trust after something like that. I still have a hard time trusting people after it happened to me. What if she runs from him like I did from Edward? What if she doesn't think she deserves him anymore? Maybe, I should talk to her. But would she even listen to me? We've never been as close as her and Alice." _

Edward broke out of his sister's internal monolouge and flashed her a reassuring smile. He had no idea that Rosalie actually cared about Bella that much. Like she said, the two had never been very close.

Once Bella finished eating, Alice cleaned up as Edward led Bella up the stairs, his arm around her waist now. He hoped that she wasn't getting uncomfortable with the contact. He just wanted everything to feel normal and the contact for more normal than breathing. When they reached Carlisle's study, Edward knocked.

"Come in." Carlisle called. Edward opened the door and led Bella inside. "Bella, it's nice to see you awake. How do you feel?"

"A little sore." Bella answered. "But okay."

"Good. Why don't you tell me what happened?" Carlisle answered. He was looking at Edward's arm around her waist with great interest. When he looked up at Edward he thought,

_"So things are going well?" _Edward smiled at him.

Carlisle gestured for them to have a seat. Edward let go of her waist but grabbed her hand again as they sat down.

Edward listened trying to contain his anger as Bella told him about the almost beating Jacob gave her when she first got to La Push. She told them how they fought and he tried to strangle her. Edward had to keep telling himself that Bella needed him to be with her to keep her safe. She didn't need him running off after Jacob. Sam would take care of that.

Bella told them that she had an epiphany while he was strangling her. She told them how she realized everyone was right. Edward tightened his grip on her hand when she said she was scared that he was going to kill her. She said that he stopped at the last minute and apologized. She explained how she told him that she was done with him.

Once again, Edward had to fight the urge to kill Jacob when Bella explained how he reacted to her telling him they were done.

When she finished,Carlisle didn't say anything. He just got up and looked at her arms and neck.

"Can I see your stomach?" he asked. Edward let her hand go so she could pull up her sweater.

When he saw the huge bruise on the right side of her stomach, Edward had to remind himself, once again, that he needed to stay there with Bella not go after the mutt. Carlisle poked her rib cage but Bella didn't make any sounds of pain.

"Well, it looks like you just have a few bruises. I want you to come into the hospital tomorrow though." Carlisle said when he was done. "I don't think you have any ribs that are cracked or broken but I want an x-ray just in case."

Bella nodded. Edward grabbed her hand again and squeezed it.

"I'll make sure she goes." Edward said.

"I know you will." Carlisle said. _"I'm glad she has you to help right now." _Edward just smiled at him. "Now, I'm sure the rest of the family is waiting to hear what happened. And you can tell them that you're alright."

Edward and Bella headed back downstairs, hand in hand, again. The family had moved to the living room and all turned when they walked in. Edward couldn't stop the questions from coming out of their mouths. Edward had a feeling that she didn't want to talk about it again. The only thing she told any of them was that she wasn't going back.

Edward and Bella sat on the couch next to Alice and they started having talking about random things. About fifteen minutes later, Alice caught Edward's eye and thought

_"I forgot, Sam called while Bella was asleep. The pack searched all day and they couldn't find Jacob anywhere." _

Edward nodded.

_"Aren't you gonna tell her?" _

Edward shook his head.

_"She deserves to know!" _

Edward shook his head.

"If you aren't gonna tell her then I will." Alice blurted out.

Edward cursed his sisters big mouth. If she hadn't opened it, he could've gotten away with not telling Bella.

"Alice, she doesn't need to know, right now." he said.

"What don't I need to know?" Bella asked.

"Nothing." Edward answered.

Things were difinately back to normal. Edward was being protective of her. She simply gave him one of her, I'm not afraid looks and stared him down.

"Fine." he said after staring at her for a minute. "Jacob took off after Sam stopped him. The pack can't find him."

Things were inded back to normal. Edward saw no fear or alarm in Bella's eyes at the news. She simply snuggled herself into his shoulder and held him tighter. Her tighten his grip on her tiny frame, slightly and kissed her forehead.

An hour or so of talk later and she had fallen back to sleep. Edward carried her to his room, laid her down, and kissed her forehead. He went back downstairs.

"Alice, can you call Charlie and tell him Bella's staying another night?" Edward asked as he went back in the living room.

"Already done." Alice replied. "But she may want to go home tomorrow night. Charlie might start to think that we're holding her against her will."

Edward chuckled but nodded.

"Carlisle wants her to go into to the hospital and get a few x-rays just to make sure nothing's broken. I'll drop her off afterwrds." he said.

"So what exactly is happening between you two?" Rosalie voiced all of their thoughts.

"I don't know." Edward answered. "All I know, is it feels like everything is back to normal when I'm holding her. And I can feel her relaxe in my arms. I guess will have to talk when she is less exhausted."

His mood came down a little when he talked about this. Maybe, that was all she needed him for at the time. What would happen when she got over the Jacob thing? He felt Esme's hand on his shoulder.

_"It'll all work out." _she thought.

"I know." he said.

**A/N: I know it's kind of repetative but there were a couple points I felt I needed to get out. Let me know what you think.**


	13. Hurt

**CHAPTER 13 HURT**

**EDWARD **

Edward sat on the couch tuning everything out. He was lost in thought about what was going to happen when Bella got over this. He wondered if he and she would still be together. He wondered if Rosalie was right and she would run because of what the mutt had done to her. He remembered how hard Rosalie took it when Emmett found out and how hard Emmett took the whole thing. What if Bella left him again? He didn't think he could live through that.

Another thought struck him suddenly. What if Sam and the pack could never find Jacob? Would Bella have to deal spend the rest of her life looking over her shoulder? She didn't deserve that. Not after everything he had already done to her. Edward would just have to keep right on protecting. But what would happen if Bella no longer wanted him to protect her? She couldn't handle Jacob on her own.

With that thought he got up and headed to the back door.

"Where are you going?" Emmett asked.

"I'm going to make sure the pup can't hurt her anymore." Edward answered.

"What makes you think you can find him?" Alice said. "Not even the pack could."

"I have to try! I can't just sit here like it's all right when he could be planning to take her back!" Edward yelled.

"Okay but what if Bella needs you when she wakes up?" Alice asked.

"I'll have my cell phone." he replied.

"Be careful." Esme said. Edward knew she knew there was no point in trying to stop him.

"I will." Edward answered and ran outside.

He ran for a couple hours trying to pick up Jacob's scent. No matter which direction he went, he couldn't find a trace of the dog anywhere.

"Damn you, Jacob Black!" he yelled as he gave up.

He punched the nearest tree and sent splinters flying everywhere. He continued to punch the other trees around him with a force he didn't know he had. He just let some of the rage he had been feeling in the last month go. When he calmed, there was a near clearing in the part of the forest. Wood chips littered the ground. A few uprooted trees lay on the ground.

Edward stood there admiring his handy work. He felt a little better. He would've felt even better if it was Jacob Black laying at his feet but he'd take what he could get. He phone started to vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out and Alice's number was flashing. He flipped it open.

"Hey Alice." he said.

"Any luck?" she asked.

"No, the damned mutt found a way to cloak his scent." Edward replied.

"Well, I just thought I'd let you know that Bella was awake." Alice said. "She's okay but she woke up screaming your name and crying. She refused to tell me why but I calmed her down. We're just talking, right now."

"Okay, I'll be there shortly." he replied and clicked the phone shut.

He shoved it back in his pocket and started to head home. The run home took a lot less time than the one to where he was. Of course, this time his only focus was on getting back home, instead of trying to catch a scent.

When he entered the house, he caught the end of Alice and Bella's conversation. From the sound of it, Bella had told Alice what had happened the day before. It killed him that Bella was nearly in tears. Bella looked up at him.

"Hey, how was your hunt?" Bella asked.

Edward looked at Alice.

_"I figured you didn't want her to know you went after him." _

Edward gave her a look that said thank you.

"Just fine." Edward answered Bella's question. "Have you had anything to eat, yet?"

"Yes." Bella answered.

"Don't worry, Edward. Esme, Rosalie, and I took care of her." Alice stated.

"Why don't you go change your clothes." Edward said to Bella. "So we can go see Carlisle. Then I want to take you home because I know Charlie probably misses you."

"Yeah." Bella replied getting up from the couch. "Besides, I hate to see what he's been eating this past week. Alice could you come with me. I don't think, Charlie will buy that I fell when he sees these." she indicated the bruises on her neck and wrists.

Edward had to fight another stab of anger as Alice followed Bella upstairs.

As annoying as Alice could be sometimes, Edward had to give her credit because it was her idea to buy some clothes for Bella to keep at their house. Just in case she had to stay again.

Edward waited about a half hour mulling over what he would do to Jacob if he ever found him. Breaking every bone in his body was Edward's favorite idea. When Bella and Alice came down, Bella was wearing a pair of light blue jeans and a dark blue short sleeved t-shirt. Alice had done such a good job on her bruises that Bella looked perfectly normal. She pulled her hair back into a low ponytail.

"Ready?" she asked.

Edward insisted on driving. Which Bella didn't seem to mind. The ride to the hospital was silent. Edward just figured Bella was lost in thought and didn't want to disturb her. He was slightly hurt by the fact that she stayed as close to her side of the truck as possible. Maybe he was right. Maybe she just needed that contact yesterday after everything that happened. Maybe she really didn't want to be with him anymore either. This thought hurt Edward so much that he forced himself to go back to thinking of ways to get back at Jacob.

He had wanted to bring up what had made her wake up this morning but didn't know how it would make her feel. He just continued to drive in silence.

Carlisle was waiting for them when they got to the hospital.

**AN HOUR LATER...**

Carlisle stuck the x-ray pictures on the light board.

"As you can see there is no damge to the ribs at all." he told them.

"Are you sure?" Bella asked confused.

"Yes." Carlisle replied. "Why?"

"Well, I probably should've mentioned last night but there was a lot in my head." Bella replied. "But I could've sworn I felt and heard something crack or break."

Carlisle furrowed his brow for a minute and then his thoughts took off. The were running very fast and Edward couldn't proccess anything that was coming from them.

"Bella," Edward finally said. "Can I have a word with Carlisle, please?"

Bella looked up at both men. The confusion was apparent on her face but she nodded and stepped out of the room.

"Okay, explain to me what you are thinking." he whispered. "Because I can't follow."

"First of all, this is just my speculation. I need to have a word with Sam to be sure I'm right. I didn't tell anyone last week because I didn't think Bella needed the added stress. But the thing is, she was healing faster than any rape victim that I have ever seen. And know with the ribs. I should've checked her out when she first came yesterday. Now there's only one way I can be sure."

"Carlisle, slow down. What exactly do you think is going on?" Edward said still unable to follow where Carlisle was going.

"I think she may be pregnant with Jacob's child." Carlisle said.

Edward was dumbfounded for a moment then he said,

"Is that even possible?"

"You knew that werewolves could reproduce." Carlisle answered.

"No, I mean, is it possible for the baby to be healing her?" Edward clarified.

"I want to examine her again and talk to Sam before I can confirm." Carlisle stated. "I don't want to mention any of this to her or do a test until I can be sure. She doesn't need anymore to worry about, especially if it's something else entirely."

Edward nodded.

"I'll go get her." Carlisle said and stepped outside.

Edward stood there for a minute. Bella might be pregnant with the mutt's baby. He prayed that she wasn't for her own sake. When Carlisle came back in with a bewildered looking Bella, Edward stepped outside.

Edward waited trying not to think about the situation. He had to keep telling himself that it was just Carlisle speculating. The didn't know for sure if she really was or not. He didn't have to start worrying about it until after Carlisle talked to Sam.

Carlisle stepped outside a little while later to allow Bella to change.

"Well?" Edward prompted.

"Not a single bit of evidence that any damage was done." Carlisle replied.

"That what I was afraid of." Edward said.

"I'll go see Sam tonight." Carlisle said. "How are things with the two of you, though?"

"I don't know. She was distant this morning." Edward replied.

"She's probably confused right now." Carlisle said."Give her a few days to sort through her emotions then talk to her."

Edward nodded as Bella opened the door and stepped out.

"Are you ready to go home?" Edward asked. Bella nodded.

The ride back to Bella's house was just as quiet as the ride to the hospital. Once again, Bella stayed as close to her side as possible. It hurt Edward to know that she didn't want to be close to him. Edward had to remind himself of what Carlisle said to keep from saying something.

"Do you want me to stay until Charlie comes home?" Edward asked as the pulled in front of Bella's house.

"No, I'll be okay." Bella answered. Edward noticed the almost forced coldness in her voice. That confused and hurt him at the same time.

"Alright." he said knowing he wasn't going to win the fight.

He took the keys out of the ignition and handed them to her. They both got out.

"Thanks for everything." she told him. This time he heard real sadness in her voice. It felt like this was a goodbye.

"Anytime." he replied. She headed toward the door and he ran to the forest.

When he heard her slam the door shut, he ran back. He stood on the edge of the woods outside her house for the rest of the day and well into the night. He watched as Charlie came home and wondered vaguely what Bella would say about where she's been the past week. Around midnight, someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to see Alice and Jasper standing there.

"Carlisle, needs to talk to you." Alice said. "Jazz and I will keep an eye on her until you get back."

"Thanks." Edward said and he ran toward the house. He prayed that Carlisle had good news for him.

**(Please forgive the break. I didn't want to reveal too much in the conversation that Edward had with Carlisle because I want it to come out in their conversation with Bella.)**

**THE NEXT DAY...**

The family was assembled in the dining room. Alice and Jasper were sitting on one side of the table. Jasper hads his arm around Alice's shoulder and she had her head on his. Emmett and Rosalie stood in their corner. Rosalie was standing in front of Emmett and he had his arms around her waist. Carlisle was at the head of the table with Esme behind him. She had both her hands on his shoulders. Edward was sitting opposite Jasper with Bella next to him.

Bella was still acting distant. Edward had the feeling she was forcing herself to. He had no idea why but she wouldn't talk to him about. Everytime he said something in reagards to their relationship, she would change the subject.

Everytime he tried to touch her she would pull away. He wished she would let him touch her. He knew after this conversation, she would need some kind of comfort.

"I want you all to know that this isn't really a meeting for the whole family. I mostly needed to talk to Bella about something but I know she's going to need our support afterwards. I also figure this way, she won't have to talk about it, if she isn't ready." Carlisle explained.

Edward wanted to grab Bella's hand as he saw her staring at Carlisle in confusion. He knew she would just shrug it off.

"Bella," Carlisle continued. "I didn't say anything before becasue I didn't want to stress you out but you were healing from the rape faster than normal. And when I checked you yesterday, you didn't show any lingering signs of being raped."

"I don't understand." Bella shook her head.

"When you said you thought that he had broke a couple ribs, it was a major possibility." Carlisle continued. Bella still looked confused as ever.

"What are you saying?" she asked.

"I'm saying that I need to do a pregnancy test on you in a couple weeks." Carlisle said.

Edward watched as Bella continued to stare at Carlisle confused. He watched as she slowly pulled the pieces together.

"Is that even possible?" she asked after minute.

"I talked to Sam last night just to be sure. He said that it's not something that happens often but if the baby is strong enough it is. And looking at Jacob's ancestry, I said it is possible. You and the baby, if there is one, are connected and for the nine months he or she is in there, you will have the powers." Carlisle explained. "Now, I'm not saying you'll phase or anything but if you're hurt, you will heal. You may have a problem controling your anger as well."

Bella just shook her head.

"I can't. I can't." she said. She looked about to break down.

Edward couldn't help it. He got out of his chair and wrapped his arms around her. To his surprise she didn't flinch away. She broke down in his arms. Edward swore in that moment that Jacob Black would pay for everything he had done to his precious Bella.

"Edward," Carlisle said. "Take her home. She needs to let it sink in. Bella," Edward felt Bella lift her head to look at Carlisle. "Tomorrow, we'll discuss the options, okay."

Bella nodded. Edward helped her walk to her truck. She was still sobbing pretty hard. She clung to him the entire drive home, crying into his shoulder. When he pulled up to the house, he wrapped his arms around her and let her cry until she calmed.

"Do you want me to meet you upstairs?" he asked.

She just nodded into his shirt. Edward released her and she got out of the truck. He waited outside and made sure she got in safely. Then he went into her bedroom through the window. He heard her telling Charlie that she was going to go to bed. He sat down in the rocking chair and waited for her to come in.

When the door opened and she stepped in, Edward opened his arms. She closed the door and curled up in them.

"Do you know what you're going to do?" Edward asked.

"I'm going to keep him. He's as much mine as he is Jacob's so I can't give him up. And it's not his fault so I won't kill him." Bella replied. "I just don't know what I'm gonna tell Charlie."

"Wait, a few weeks and tell him, the baby's mine." Edward suggested.

"I can't ask that of you." she replied.

"You're not. I'm volunteering." he replied.

"No." Bella said.

"Why not?" Her words broke his heart. Why didn't she want him doing this?

"Because it's just too much." Bella said. "There's so many reason why you can't. Mostly because I don't think I can be with you again."

Her words cut into his heart like a knife.

"What do you mean?" he asked unable to keep the hurt out of his voice.

"I just can't okay. Can't we leave it at that."

Tears were pouring down her face as she said the words. He couldn't believe the words that she was saying. It looked like sying them was hurting her as much as hearing them was hurting him. She pulled herself out of his arms.

"I don't believe you." he said standing up.

"Look, Edward. Don't make this any harder on yourself. Just go, please."

"Bella, please." He reached out to her but she pulled back.

"Go."

Edward gave her one last hurt look before jumping out of the window. He run to the forest and beat up a few more trees before collapsing to the ground and wishing he could cry.

**A/N: Okay, so you have a long chapter but I have some things to say. First of all, I'm not sure I'm going to keep it going this way. I want you guys to let me know if you think it veered down the stupid path. Also, I realized about halfway through the chapter that I went in the wrong order this time. I promise you will understand Bella's sudden change in her feelings and why she pulled away in the next chapter. I want to apologize if the chapter did turn bad. I only got like three hours of sleep and didn't get to plan it out a work like I usually do so I'm sorry. Finally, I'm not sure the whole baby thing would work the way I said. I'm basing it off of other supernatural pregnancy that I've seen on T.V. and in books. Like I said, I'm not sure if I'm going to keep the plot going this way. I want input on whether or not you guys think its turning stupid. So free cookies and maybe a new plot for those who review. Thank you and I hope you like. **


	14. Pain

**CHAPTER 13 PAIN**

**BELLA**

_Bella was in a dark room. She couldn't see two feet in front of her. _

_"Edward!" she called. _

_No response. _

_"Jacob?" she tried again. _

_No response. _

_"Anyone?" _

_Nothing. She stood there trying to find some kind of light or hint of a way out. There was nothing but dark. She reached out her hand to feel for something but founf nothing. Then the voice started. _

_It were so low at first that Bella couldn't decipher it. Then it got louder. She thought it sounded like a slightly disttorted version of Jacob's. _

_"You're worthless. You don't deserve him." _

_"No!" Bella screamed and covered her ears but the voice was still there. _

_"Do you think he still wants you anyway? You're dirty and tainted now. Used goods." the voice continued as if it was inside her head. _

_"Edward loves me and he'll tak care of me no matter what!" she yelled at the voice. _

_"We'll see. And even if he does want you, are you willing to risk his safety just to be with him?" the voice continued. _

_"What do you mean?' Bella asked. _

_"You know." Bella could hear the smile in this voice. _

_"Jacob wouldn't dare touch him!" Bella screamed._

Suddenly there was light everywhere. Jacob was standing barely a foot in front of her. He had an evil smile twisting on his lips.

_"Wouldn't I?" he said and stepped closer to her. "If he's the only thing standing in my way of you, I would." _

_He grabbed her wrists and brought his lips crashing down on hers with a bruising force. She struggled against him. _

_Distantly another voice came to her ears. A female one. _

_"Bella, wake up! It's Alice! It's just a dream!" _

_Bella focused on Alice's voice and felt herself being pulled from Jacob's grasp._

Bella snapped her eyes open. She was back in Edward's bed. Alice was sitting next to her stroking her hair. Tears were still falling from her face.

Remembering what Jacob had said, Bella sat up in the bed and looked frantically around the room. There was no sign of Edward. He first thought was _"Oh my god, Jacob has him!" _but a her rational side forced her to ask,

"Where's Edward?"

"He went out...hunting." Alice replied.

Bella had a feeling by the Alice's hesitation that it wasn't the whole truth. She didn't say anything because at least he wasn't with Jacob. That could still mean that he left her though. Alice must have saw the panic in her eyes because she added,

"Don't worry. He will be back. He asked me to call him when you woke up. But that can wait. Do you wanna talk about that dream you were having?"

"No, I'm fine it was just a dream." she answered and then thought, _"Besides, you couldn't help if i told you. There's only one thing I can do." _

"Okay, well let's go get you something to eat." Alice said. Bella was positive that Alice wanted to protest her answer but thought better of it.

When the two reached the kitchen, Esme offered to make her anything she wanted but Bella just settled for a pop tart. Not that Esme was a bad cook. In fact, for someone who rarely ever cooks, she was amazing. Bella just wasn't that hungry.

Bella sat at the dining room table eating while Alice went in the living room to call Edward. Bella didn't want him to back because of what she knew she had to do. She had to make Edward think that she didn't want him, even after what she did last night. She didn't deserve someone who would risk their life for her. She was worth enough to put him in danger.

Bella did know what Jacob was capable of and even if it was just a dream Jacob that threatened her, she didn't want to risk him hurting Edward. Edward meant way too much to her for him to make that sacrifice. Besides, she didn't deserve it at any rate.

Alice walked back in a minute later.

"He's on his way back." she said. "I hate to pry but I was kind of hoping maybe you could tell me what happened yesterday?"

Bella nodded. She didn't want to talk about it anymore but knew if anyone other than Carlisle had a right to know it was Alice. Alice had been there the through the whole Jacob disaster. She had helped Bella even after Bella broke Edward's heart. Alice was a true friend. One that Bella would do anything to keep. One that deserved to hear everything.

Alice and Bella walked into the living room and sat on the couch. Bella told the whole story all over again. She watched Alice carefully, trying to judge her reaction. Alice looked like she would burst into tears if she could. When Bella finished, she found herself nearly crying. It was a relief to be done with Jacob even if she couldn't stay where she wanted to be. Jacob was still on the loose and still a threat to the Cullens, especially Edward. Bella couldn't bear it if anything happened to him because of her.

Bella looked up to find one of the subjects of her thoughts standing in the doorway.

"Hey, how was your hunt?" Bella asked hoping she sounded casual.

Edward gave Alice a look that told Bella they were hiding something. As she watched Edward smile in reply to Alice silent words, she decided not to ask. Edward probably wouldn't tell her. Besides, she figured she already knew what he was trying to hunt.

"Just fine." Edward answered Bella's question. "Have you had anything to eat, yet?"

"Yes." Bella answered. She smiled to herself at the way he was taking care of her.

"Don't worry, Edward. Esme, Rosalie, and I took care of her." Alice stated.

"Why don't you go change your clothes." Edward said to Bella. "So we can go see Carlisle. Then I want to take you home because I know Charlie probably misses you."

Bella thought he sounded a little like a father talking to a five year old but she decided it was best to go with it.

"Yeah." she said as she stood up. "Besides, I hate to see what he's been eating this past week. Alice could you come with me. I don't think, Charlie will buy that I fell when he sees these." she indicated the bruises on her neck and wrists."

She didn't think she'd have the energy to do it either. Not after having to lie to Edward all day. That would take most of her energy. She felt a pang of sadness as she looked back to Edward then walked up the stairs with Alice next to her.

Bella had to admit, as annoying as Alice was about clothing, she was pretty smart. She decided halfway through the week to buy Bella a whole new wardrobe for the Cullen house. Just in case she had to stay with them again. Alice even gave her half the closet.

Bella looked through the clothes. She was surprised that Alice went with the simple instead of the flashy. She pulled out a pair of light blue jeans and a dark blue short sleeved shirt. She slipped on a pair of backless tennis shoes and put her hair in a low ponytail.

"Are you okay?" Alice asked as Bella sat on the chair in front of the mirror.

"I'm fine." Bella lied. She was anything but fine. Still, she couldn't say anything to Alice.

For once in her life Bella was glad that she hadn't officially decided what to do about Edward. That way Alice wouldn't see it before she did it. She could keep her best friend for a little longer.

"This whole thing has just been very emotionally and mentally draining." Bella elaborated.

"I can understand that. But if you ever want to talk, you know I'm here, right?" Alice asked.

Bella nodded. Alice finished covering the bruises in the relaxing silience that followed. Fifteen minutes later, the two friends headed downstairs.

"Ready?" Bella asked.

Edward insisted on driving. Which Bella didn't because she didn't know if she'd be abel to focus. The ride to the hospital was silent. Bella was deep in thought about everything, she stayed as far away from Edward as possible. She decided that distance was the best thing until she figured out how to handle it. She knew how bad she wanted to touch him, to have him hold her like he did last night.

Everytime she thought about that, Jacob's distorted voice would come back, telling her how she didn't deserve him. Reminding her that if Edward was the only thing standing in his way of Bella he'd...

She was glad when the pulled into the hospital to see Carlisle waiting for them. Bella was glad she didn't have to finish her thought.

**AN HOUR LATER...**

Carlisle stuck the x-ray pictures on the light board.

"As you can see there is no damge to the ribs at all." he told them.

"Are you sure?" Bella asked confused.

"Yes." Carlisle replied. "Why?"

"Well, I probably should've mentioned it last night but there was a lot in my head." Bella replied feeling stupid for not saying anything before. "But I could've sworn I felt and heard something crack or break."

Carlisle furrowed his brow for a minute. Bella noticed Edward trying to catch onto his thoughts but was unable to. After a minute Edward said,

"Bella, Ccan I have a word with Carlisle, please?"

Bella looked up at both men. She was confused but knew not to fight the issue with either and walked outside. As the door closed she strained to hear what they were saying. She cursed her stupid human hearing when all she could hear was indistinct muttering.

Ten minutes later, Carlisle stepped out of the door.

"Bella, I was wondering if, since you're already, I might take another look at how you recovering." he asked.

Bella nodded and he led her back into the room. Edward and Carlisle stepped outside so she could change into a hospital gown.

**(A/N: I'm not positive how a check up would go so we are going to skip to when Carlisle gets finished.)**

Ten mintues later, Carlisle toldher that she was healing nicely and he went outside so she could put her clothes back on. Once she was done she went to meet the boys in the hall.

"Are you ready to go home?" Edward asked. Bella nodded.

The ride back to Bella's house was just as quiet as the ride to the hospital. Once again, Bella stayed as far away as possible. There was an indescribable pain in her chest but she ignored it. She would go through that pain if it kept Jacob from going after Edward.

"Do you want me to stay until Charlie comes home?" Edward asked as the pulled in front of Bella's house.

"No, I'll be okay." Bella answered. She had to force herself to sound cold. She wanted to give him the idea that she didn't want him. She hoped he'd get it so she wouldn't have to say it. The truth was though that she wanted him to stay and hold her forever.

"Alright." he said reluctantly.

He took the keys out of the ignition and handed them to her. They both got out.

"Thanks for everything." she told him. She tried to make it sound like a permenant goodbye and not an I'll see you later.

"Anytime." he replied. She headed toward the door and he ran to the forest.

She slammed the door shut then sunk to the floor and sobbed. She didn't know how long she sat on the floor but after she calmed she went to the kitchen. She had to make things seem normal for Charlie. Plus, she really did feel guilty for leaving him on his own for a week. She wondered vaguely what he had to eat all week.

Bella searched the fridge for something simple, yet, decent. She decided on spaghetti. All she had to do was boilt the noodles and heat up the sauce. Just as she was about to put it on the table, Charlie was in the doorway.

"Who is this stranger in my house?" he asked.

"Haha." Bella replied as Charlie sat at the table and began serving himself. "I'm sorry, dad."

"Don't be." he said. "You're almost nineteen and you're out of high school. You should be having fun with your friends. I'm just glad you call."

"Thanks, dad." she said.

She didn't have the heart to tell him that she wasn't having fun. He didn't need to worry about her. She could handle this so if he wanted to believe she was having fun with Alice, that was fine with her.

After dinner, she told Charlie that she was really tired and went straight to bed. She had a hard time sleeping that night. Everytime she fell asleep she'd see Jacob's face with that evil smile or else she saw Edward telling her he didn't want her anymore

**THE NEXT DAY...**

Bella decided to spend the day cleaning the whole house. It was enough to distract her from her thoughts and fears about Edward. She thought it was a little weird that he didn't call or come over at all that day. Maybe, he had taken her hint. Once again she felt that indescribable pain in her chest as she choked back a sob.

Her hopes that Edward had taken the hint were squashed at seven o'clock when her phone rang. She looked at the screen to see Edward's name flashing. She took a deep breath and flipped it open.

"Hello." she said.

"Hi Bella." Edward said. He sounded very upset about something. "Carlisle was wondering ifyou could come on over right now? He needs to discuss something with the family."

"Sure." Bella answered her voice shaking a little.

"Okay, see you in a bit." Edward said and the phone clicked.

She shut her own and grabbed her keys. She wondered vaguely what Carlisle could possibly need to talk to her and the family about as she drove to the Cullen house.

The family was assembled in the dining room when she arrived. Alice and Jasper were sitting on one side of the table. Jasper had his arm around Alice's shoulder and she had her head on his shoulder. Emmett and Rosalie stood in their corner. Rosalie was standing in front of Emmett and he had his arms around her waist. Carlisle was at the head of the table with Esme behind him. She had both her hands on his shoulders. Edward was sitting opposite Jasper. Bella took a seat next to Edward.

She had to force herself to pull away when Edward tried to put his arm around her. She wished she could let him but there were just so many reason why it was wrong. So everytime her tried to touch her after that she would pull away. She felt that pain in her chest again and had to remind herself why she was doing this.

"I want you all to know that this isn't really a meeting for the whole family. I mostly needed to talk to Bella about something but I know she's going to need our support afterwards. I also figure this way, she won't have to talk about it, if she isn't ready." Carlisle explained.

Bella was confused. What would be so bad that Carlisle would think she needed the support of the whole family? Or not want to talk about it later. She long for a comforting squeeze from Edward and had to force herself not to take his hand.

"Bella," Carlisle continued. "I didn't say anything before because I didn't want to stress you out but you were healing from the rape faster than normal. And when I checked you yesterday, you didn't show any lingering signs of being raped."

"I don't understand." Bella shook her head. How could she be completely healed? Hadn't Carlisle told her that day in the hospital that she was pretty messed up?

"When you said you thought that he had broke a couple ribs, it was a major possibility." Carlisle continued.

This made Bella even more confused. If they were broken or cracked why didn't she feel it? Why didn't it show in the x-ray?

"What are you saying?" she asked.

"I'm saying that I need to do a pregnancy test on you in a couple weeks." Carlisle said.

Bella stared at him for a moment in confusion. What did her healing have to do with being pregnant? She thought for a second then it all came rushing to her. The rape, her healing, Jacob being a werewolf.

She was pregnant with Jacob's baby. But could the child use his powers on Bella? Her hand flutter to her stomach adn she asked,

"Is that even possible?"

"I talked to Sam last night just to be sure. He said that it's not something that happens often but if the baby is strong enough it is. And looking at Jacob's ancestry, I said it is possible. You and the baby, if there is one, are connected and for the nine months he or she is in there, you will have their powers." Carlisle explained. "Now, I'm not saying you'll phase or anything but if you're hurt, you will heal. You may have a problem controling your anger as well."

Bella just shook her head. She thought about everything. What would she do? Who would help her? She couldn't ask any of the Cullens. That would piss Jacob off. Maybe enough to hutr one of them or take the baby from her. She couldn't do this. Not on her own but she had no one.

"I can't. I can't." she said. She fought the break down that was coming.

She felt Edward wrap his arms around her. She didn't have the energy to push him away, instead she turned into his chest and sobbed.

"Edward," She heard Carlisle say. "Take her home. She needs to let it sink in. Bella," Bella lifted her head to look at Carlisle "Tomorrow, we'll discuss the options, okay."

Bella nodded. Edward helped her walk to her truck. She was still clinging to him sobbing hard. She kept her face buried in his shoulder and cried all the way to her house. When the pulled up, he turned off the car and held her until she calmed.

"Do you want me to meet you upstairs?" he asked.

She just nodded into his shirt. Edward released her and she got out of the truck. When she walked inside she told Charlie that she was just going to go to bed. He said goodnight. Bella was thankful he didn't really look at her. She didn't want him to ask why she looked like such a mess.

When she opened her door she found Edward sitting in the rocking chair. He had his arms spread open so she could curl into them. It was then that she realized how much she missed him being there. She walked over and curled up into his arms. He held her tight to his cool body.

"Do you know what you're going to do?" he asked.

Bella didn't have to think about it. She knew what she was going to do the minute Carlisle told her.

"I'm going to keep him. He's as much mine as he is Jacob's so I can't give him up. And it's not his fault so I won't kill him." Bella replied. "I just don't know what I'm gonna tell Charlie."

"Wait a few weeks and tell him the baby's mine." Edward suggested.

Jacob's voice was screaming in her ear again. Reminding her that she was worthless and undeserving. It also whispered the warning of Jacob going after him. She needed to push Edward away from the idea fast but gently.

"I can't ask that of you." she replied.

"You're not. I'm volunteering." he replied.

Why did he have to be so stubborn? Why couldn't he just listen to her and let it go? Just walk away while she could still be kind about it.

"No." she said.

"Why not?" She could hear the heartbreak in his voice.

"Because it's just too much." Bella said. "There's so many reason why you can't. Mostly because I don't think I can be with you again."

Okay, so as much as that hurt, it wasn't a lie. There were many reason why he couldn't. Mostly, the thought of Jacob's reaction to knowing that Edward Cullen was helping her raise _ his _child. Then there was also the fact that this was her fault and she didn't deserve to be able to have someone help bail her out of it.

"What do you mean?" he asked. There was no mistaking how much he was hurting at the moment.

"I just can't okay. Can't we leave it at that."

Tears were pouring down her face as she said the words. She hoped he just percieved them as tears of guilt not pain. She pulled herself off of him.

"I don't believe you." he said standing up and looking her in the face.

_"Damn it Bella!" _She yelled in her head. _"Learn to lie better!"_

"Look, Edward. Don't make this any harder on yourself. Just go, please." she said out loud.

"Bella, please." He reached out to her but she pulled back.

"Go."

There it was again, that pain in her chest. She just wanted it to go away.

Edward gave her one last hurt look before jumping out of the window. She sat on the bed and let the tears pour. She wanted him to back to her so bad. She wanted him to embrace her and tell her everything would be okay. She knew that couldn't happen.

She knew that she deserved someone better than Jacob but she could never deserve someone as good as Edward. Not someone who would die to keep her safe or help her raise her child. She curled up into a ball on the bed and cried herself into an uneasy sleep.

**A/N: That's it for this chapter. I hope you guys understand why Bella pulled away. Not only if she afraid for Edward's safety but Jacob still has her convinced that she doesn't deserve like Edward has for her. I know it's only subconciously but it's still there. I wonder who could save her from her thoughts? Any guesses? Free hugs for your reviews. **


	15. Guilt

**A/N: I know you are all getting sick of reading this scene. Don't worry, this is the last time. And just to let you guys know, I know I've been having Bella refer to the baby as he. This is not what Bella thinks the baby is going to be. Nor does it reflect her preference on the sex. I just can't stand it when people call an unborn baby "it''. Even if he or she is not technically part of this world yet, they still deserve to be refered as a human being and not a thing. That is the only reason Bella has chosen a sex for the baby.**

**CHAPTER 15 GUILT**

**ALICE**

The family was sitting in the living room. Alice didn't have to have Edward's power to know what they were all thinking. _What would this new bit of imformation mean for Bella and Edward?_

She had wanted to put all their minds at ease so she closed her eyes and peeked into their future.

_Edward was sitting in Bella's rocking chair. Bella was on his lap and he had his arms around her. _

_"Do you know what you're going to do?" Edward asked Bella. _

_"I'm going to keep him. He's as much mine as he is Jacob's so I can't give him up. And it's not his fault so I won't kill him." Bella replied. "I just don't know what I'm gonna tell Charlie."_

_"Wait a few weeks and tell him the baby's mine." Edward suggested._

_"I can't ask that of you." Bella replied. _

_"You're not. I'm volunteering." Edward replied._

_"No." Bella said. _

_"Why not?" _

_"Because it's just too much." Bella said. "There's so many reason why you can't. Mostly because I don't think I can be with you again." _

_"What do you mean?" he asked._

_"I just can't okay. Can't we leave it at that." _

_"I don't believe you." he said. _

_"Look, Edward. Don't make this any harder on yourself. Just go, please." she said. _

_"Bella, please." He reached out to her but she pulled back. _

_"Go." _

_Edward gave her one last hurt look before jumping out of the window. _

Alice pulled herself out of the vision because she didn't want to see anymore. Both of them looked as if their world was being ripped from them, by the time she did. She let out a choked sob as she looked at her family.

Jasper, who was on the couch next to her, put his hand on her shoulder.

"What did you see?" he asked her.

"It was Bella. She told Edward to leave." Alice said. "He offered to help her raise the baby and she made him leave. She said she wasn't sure if she wanted to be with him again. She said there were too many reasons why he couldn't help her take care of the baby."

"Why would she do that?" Jasper asked.

"I don't know." Alice replied. "I do know though that she didn't mean it. I don't know how I know, I just do. I think she's afraid of something."

"I think I know what it is." Rosalie stated. "I'm going to have to talk to her. She probably won't listen to anyone but me right now."

"What makes you say that?" Carlisle asked.

"Because, in her mind, I'm probably the only one who understands even a fraction of what she is going through right now." Rosalie replied.

"What are you saying?" Jasper asked.

"We have both been violated in the worst possible way." Rosalie explained. "When something like that happens, you don't think anyone could possibly understand what you are going through. Bella needs to know that someone does understand. She also needs to realize that it doesn't matter to Edward."

"I think Edward might be the one to worry about right now." Alice said. "He just leveled another part of the forest."

"I'll talk to him." Esme said. "I don't know if it'll help but it's worth a try."

Alice nodded as Esme headed for the door.

"I'll go to Bella tomorrow." Rosalie said.

**EDWARD**

Edward sat on the forest ground wanting nothing more than to cry. Why was Bella pushing him away? He just didn't understand. Did she think she could raise a baby on her own? Why couldn't she just let him help her? She could be so stubborn all the time.

He knew that she wanted nothing more than to have him there with her. He could see that in her eyes. So why did he make her go?

_"She just doesn't think you understand." _Esme's motherly thoughts cut into his head and he turned to find her approaching.

"How did you know?" he asked.

"Alice saw what happened." Esme replied. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I just don't understand why she's doing this. I know she wants me to be there but she won't let me." Edward said.

"She's been through a lot this past month. The abuse, the rape, he almost killed her and, to top everything off, she's probably pregnant with his child." Esme explained. Edward pushed his anger back as he remembered it all. "She just confused."

"I know." Edward said. "I know that she just needs time to sort things out but I can't help but feel it's all my fault."

He hadn't really talked much about this except the other night with Alice. That wasn't the best time to resolve anything. Maybe, Esme could help him since things were a little calmer now.

"How do you figure that sweetie?" Esme asked.

"I left her." Edward explained. "That monster was the only person she could turn to after that. If I would've stayed, everything would've been fine."

"You don't know that." Esme stated. "With what we are, there's no way of ever knowing if everything will ever be fine. We all know this with you or Jacob she could never truly be safe."

"Thanks, Esme." he said slightly sarcastic. She had only succeeded in making him feel worse.

"I didn't mean it like that." she replied. "I just mean that the were many things that could've happened to her if we didn't leave."

"I know that but at least we try to control ourselves." Edward replied. "The mutt just uses his force and doesn't care if he hurts her. If I had stayed, I could've protected her from getting in that deep."

"Maybe, maybe not." Esme said. "You can't protect her from everything. I know you want to but that's impossible."

"I know that but I should've been able to save her from Jacob." Edward stated. "He could've killed her the other day!"

"I know, but because of us and you, she won't give him the chance again."

"She should've never given him the chance to get that far. If I would've been here, she wouldn't have."

"You can't base your life on what ifs, Edward. I mean, what if our kind didn't exist. She would still be with him."

"But he wouldn't have a reason to hit her."

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do." Edward yelled. "He was always worried that she was gonna leave him for me. That's why he tried to keep her from coming around. When telling her didn't work, he let his jealousy turn to anger and took it out on him! If I wasn't here to encourage that jealousy then she'd be fine!"

"No!" Esme told him calmly. "With guys like Jacob, there's always someone to be jealous of. If it wasn't you, it would've been someone she worked with or a family friend."

Edward looked down at the ground. She was making sense.

_"It's okay to be mad at her." _Esme thought.

"No!" Edward yelled. How could he be mad at her? She didn't ask for any of this. "It isn't her fault!"

"That's not what I mean." Esme replied. "I mean, look at everything she's putting you through. And here you are trying to find all the reason to make it your fault."

"I can't be mad at her, though. I love her and I know how hard all of this is."

"The family feels the same about her but you can be mad at her for hurting you like this. It's okay to blame her for that. We all want to help her. Perhaps the best way is to walk away until she'sready for help."

"That'll be never. She's just that stubborn. She'll never admit to needing it."

"I know but she has to figure everything out for herself. I just don't want you to go on beating yourself up about this. She has to decide what she wants and needs right now. None of this is your fault and it's not hers either. It just is."

Edward just nodded.

_"It'll work out when it's meant to. If you two are supposed to be together, you will be." _Esme thought as she put a hand on his shoulder.

Edward nodded again.

"Go home and relax for a bit. I'll keep an eye on things here." she told him.

"No, I want to stay because if he comes, I'll kill him." Edward growled.

"Alirght." she said. Edward knew she was thinking that she wouldn't win if she fought him. "If you do need some time away, call and someone will come. We'll call you if there's something important."

Edward nodded and Esme ran back towards home. Edward walked to the edge of the forest to watch over his angel.

**BELLA**

Bella kept drifting in and out of sleep that night. She dreamed about Jacob mostly but some Edward.

It scared her that Sam couldn't find Jacob. She didn't even know if he was planning anything. Hell, she didn't know if he wasn't standing out side her window waiting to strike. She worried about what would happen when he found out about the baby. Would he be mad? Would he take responsibility? Would he kill him or her before he or she could even be born?

To a normal person, those would be the things on the priorities list but Bella was anything but normal. Those were distant worries in her mind. Her biggest problem was the terrible pain in her chest and the guilt she felt over making Edward leave.

She sent him away and all he was trying to do was help her. She knew she didn't deserve him but he didn't deserve to be treated like that. Why did she have to hurt him? He was only trying to take care of her. To love her.

She laid there in bed telling her self over and over that it was for his own good. That he would be in danger if she let him help her. That she was worthless and undeserving. She told herself that this whole situation was her fault.

Nothing that she told herself that night quenched the guilt or pain she felt thinking about Edward.

**A/N: Yeah, this one was more or less just a filler. Once again, nothing happens. I needed something to bridge the gap between 14 and 16. I also thought a mother son heart to heart would be nice to see. I haven't really had much of Esme in it. And don't worry my Rosalie and Emmett fans! Those to will have their moments as well. Hugs in exchange for reviews!!**


	16. Brothers, Sisters, and Complications

**CHAPTER 16 BROTHERS, SISTERS AND COMPLICATIONS**

**BELLA**

Bella was too cowardly to go see Carlisle the next day. She didn't want to face Edward or the fallout of what she had done to him. She knew she should let Carlisle know what she had decided to do so she called him.

Heart pounding in her chest, Bella dialed Carlisle's number and tried to compose herself as the phone rang.

"Hello." Carlise answered.

"Carlisle, hi, it's Bella." she said hoping he didn't hate her.

"What can I do for you, sweetie?" Carlisle asked in a rather pleasant voice.

"I just wanted to let you know that I won't be coming over today. I've already decided that I'm going to keep the baby." she said. "I do have a favor to ask, though."

Her heart was thudding so hard, she thought it was going to fly out of her chest and land on the table. There was a good chance he'd say no because of what she did to Edward. The fact was Bella wouldn't trust anyone else with this favor.

"And what's that?" Carlisle asked. He sounded as if what happened with Edward hadn't bothered him.

"I'd like you to be my doctor and deliver my baby." she said nearly choking the words out.

"It would be an honor." he replied.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you." Bella replied.

"You're welcome. And I just want to remind you that you will always have family here." he said.

"I know." she choked out. "Thank you for everything, you've already done."

"There's no need. It's what family does."

"I have to go." Bella managed to say before she flipped the phone shut and let the tears fall.

**EDWARD**

Edward had locked himself in his room. He was still upset about what happened with Bella the night before. He just couldn't figure out her emotions.

He knew that she wanted to be with him. What was she afraid of? Jacob couldn't hurt her as long as Edward was there. So was she afraid of him getting hurt? That didn't make much sense either. Bella knew that he could handle himself better than any other guy she knew. Yet, it would be quite like Bella to think that he would need protection. God, why couldn't he read her thoughts? Life would be so much easier for both of them if he could. He could answer all his questions and reassure her.

He wished that she would at least talk to him. They could figure it out together. That would make things easier on both of them. Or less painful at any rate. Then again, Bella has always been protective of the ones she loved. No matter what the cost.

He remembered when she went to James because James convinced her that he had Renee. It was a trap and she nearly got killed. That never mattered to Bella because at least Renee would've been safe.

Edward couldn't believe that she was taking it to this extent though. She was putting herself through the worst kind of emotional pain to potentially protect him.

Other the other hand, though, Rosalie could've been right the other day. What if Bella thought that she didn't deserve it? There'd be nothing he could do to make it better. There'd be no way to save her. And god only knew what would happen if she gave up thinking she didn't deserve anything. That was somewhere he didn't want to go.

He lay on the bed thinking about everything, trying to make sense of it all. He had been there since Alice went to Bella's that morning, to take over the watch, and made him go home to relax for awhile.

The thing nobody understood was whether he was watching over Bella or not, he couldn't relax. He was way too worried about her to think about anything else.

Sometime around nine o'clock that night, Edward heard Emmett's approaching thoughts. Emmett wanted to talk to Edward about what he went through when he found out what happened to Rosalie. Edward wasn't sure if he wanted to hear it but it touched him that his brother cared that much. So when Emmett knocked, Edward told him to come in.

"Okay, so you probably already know why I'm here. Which is why I'm just going to get down to it." Emmett said as he sat down on the couch. "Rosalie didn't tell me what happened to her right away."

"I know." Edward responded.

"Well, there was one night when I walked by Carlisle studied. This was around the time I started seeing Rosalie the way that you see Bella. Carlisle was trying to convince Rosalie to open up to me about it. She told him that she wasn't ready yet. Well, she came out of the room before I could get away." Emmett continued. "When she asked me if I heard anything. I told her the truth. I didn't think it would help to lie. I said I heard everything. And she took off."

"I remember when she left that day. I never knew why." Edward stated. All he could remember of that day was sitting in the living room and seeing a blonde blur flash past him. He never thought anything of it.

"I ran after her. Chased her for three days." Emmett said. "When she finally stopped, she broke down in my arms. She confessed that she was worried it would change how I felt about her."

"And what did you tell her?" Edward asked.

"That what those monsters did to her didn't change who she was. She would always be Rosalie Hale. They couldn't change that. No one could. Just like no one could change how i felt about her nor what I saw when I looked at her. I told her nothing would change the fact that I was in love with her." Emmett answered.

"That's all good and well but Bella won't listen to me." Edward stated. "I would say those things to her if she would let me."

"Bella's sitiuation is slightly more delicate. The mutt spent a month telling her that he was the only one who would ever love her. He was the only person she deserved. He told her she was worthless. He physically and verbally pounded those thoughts inside her head. Plus, she's decided to keep the baby which means she's going to live the rest of her life with the reminder of it all." Emmett said. "Her sitiuation is very different from Rosalie's but they have the same base. It'll be harder to get through to Bella because terrible things happened to her repeatedly. Rosalie was lucky. It only happened once. Bella's been hurt so many times over, it's gonna be harder. You just can't give up on her."

"I know but it feels like she's giving up on me." Edward replied.

"It still feels like that with Rose sometimes. But you just have to be there even in those times. She may not want it but she will thank you for it later. I know Rose always does."

"Thanks, Emmett." Edward answered. He still wasn't sure if he would take the advice but it was nice to hear that Rosalie and Emmett still struggled with Rosalie's past.

"It's what family does." Emmett said. "And speaking of what family does, Rosalie relieved Alice about half an hour ago. She's going to try to get Bella to listen to her."

Edward smiled. If anyone could do it, Rosalie could. She didn't stop until it was over.

**BELLA**

Bella decided to take a nice warm bath that night. Charlie was working late. Sam had told Charlie that Jacob was missing. They didn't want it to look suspiscious. The report said that he was a runaway. Charlie was working extra hard to find a lead. He was perceiving Bella's gloominess as worry over Jacob.

The truth was, Bella could've cared less if they ever found him. He had caused way too much pain her life for her to ever want to see him again. It was nice, though, to have an evening without Charlie asking her all kinds of questions. She stll had no idea how she was going to explain the baby.

When she finished her bath. She put on a pair of crappy sweat pants and a black camisole. She brushed and braided her hair then headed to her room.

When she got there, she got a shock in the form of Rosalie Hale sitting on her bed.

"What are you doing here?" Bella asked.

"We need to talk." Rosalie said.

Bella who was intrigued about what Rosalie could possibly want to talk to her about, sat in her rocking chair.

"What about?" Bella asked.

"My brother." Rosalie responded.

"What about him?" Bella said.

"Why are you pushing him away?"

"Why do you care?" Bella asked. Wasn't it Rosalie who never liked her in the first place?

"Contrary to what everyone thinks. I care a lot about you." Rosalie answered. "I'm just not good with feelings. So are you going to answer my question?"

Bella didn't know if she should or not. She needed to tell someone. She couldn't bear all this on her own. Then again, no one would understand any of it. But this was Rosalie, she might be able to understand, at least a little.

"I'm worthless. I don't deserve someone who will risk their life to protect me or my child." she finally said.

"That's not true!" Rosalie exclaimed. "Let me tell you a story about Emmett and I."

Bella nodded.

"I didn't tell Emmett about what happened to me, right away. I was worried that he wouldn't look at me the same way. I didn't think I deserved to be loved by someone like him. Around the time he started looking at me the way Edward looks at you, Carlisle tried to convince me to talk to Emmett but I couldn't bring myself to. I was afraid his feelings would change." Rosalie went on.

Bella nodded again.

"One day, Carlisle and I were discussing it. Emmett overheard us. When I found out, I did the only thing I could think to, I ran. He chased me for three days before I finally stopped and broke down in his arms. I told him everything. When I was finished, he told me that it didn't matter to him. In his eyes, I would always be the same Rosalie Hale that he was falling in love with. He told me that no one could change that for him. He would always see me as beautiful and worthwhile." Rosalie continued. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Bella shook her head. It was a lie but she just needed to hear the words from someone other than herself.

"In Edward's eyes and heart, you will always be the same beautiful, worthwhile, and deserving Bella Swan that you've always been. His opinion of you won't change because some mutt violated or hurt or tried to drive you away from him. It won't change because of the cub (A/N: Sorry, I thought it might be funny to phrase it like that) you're carrying. He just wants you to be happy and if that means raising a werewolf, he'll do it. You deserve that Bella. You really do." Rosalie finished.

"With all that being said. I still can ask him or any of you to help raise the baby." Bella responded. There were so many things wrong with that.

"And why not? We'd all be more than willing to." Rosalie replied. "It would be nice to have a child around the house."

"Because he will more than likely grow up to be a member of Sam's pack. That would make you guys enemies." Bella stated. Rosalie giggled.

"We haven't been enemies with Sam's pack since the Victoria's army." Rosalie said. "Besides, it could only help both sides to have such a strong connection with him. It will bring us closer."

"Okay, but I can't ask you guys to live with the discomfort of having a werewolf around. I mean always having the smell around the house." Bella pressed. She had to find away to convince her that it wouldn't work. She had to protect the family from Jacob.

"Bella, we've dealt with the discomfort of having the scent of a human in the house for over a year. I'm sure a werewolf in the house won't be too different.'' Rosalie stated with another little chuckle. ''Why don't you just tell me the real reason you don't want my brother's and the family's help?''

''What if Jacob comes back?'' Bella said in a terrified whisper.

''You aren't planning on taking him back because of the baby, are you?'' There was worry mixed with a little anger in her voice.

''No, I will never ever take him back.'' Bella responded reassuringly. ''It's just I'm worried about what he'll do if he finds out that vampires are helping me raise his child.''

"What could he possibly do?" Rosalie asked. "Take you to court and try to prove you unfit. We'll just fight him."

"Yeah and when we do, we'll have to tell them about the abuse and rape. That would get him in trouble and potentially expose everyone!" Bella stated. She didn't know why she was being so passionate about this agruement. It wasn't the worst Jacob.

"And to prove you unfit he'd have to tell them that you were raising the child with a family of vampires." Rosalie replied. "If he said that, they'd think he was unhinged and lock him up."

"Okay but there are other things he could do. I won't deny him his right to his child." Bella replied. "So it's very possible that Jacob could poison him against Edward or even me. Not to mention, he could resort to killing to keep his child away from your influence." Bella stated.

"I see." Rosalie said. "This is about protecting Edward and the rest of us. But Bella, we will always stand beside you. We will defend you and your child, even if it means our death. You are family. We'd do anything for family. You should've figured that out by now."

"I have and that's exactly why I can't let you guys help." Bella said. "You guys are like my family too and the only way I can protect you is to cut you guys out. This whole thing started because Jacob felt threatened by Edward. If I take Edward and you guys out of the equation, he has no reason to want to hurt any of you. He has no more reasons to feel threatened."

"Bella, if protecting us costs you your happiness then it's not worth it." Rosalie stated. "Edward would gladly put his life on the line to protect your happiness. You know that. You have to have faith that it'll all work out in the end. I don't know how I would get through this existence without always thinking things will work out when they are meant to."

Bella knew she was right but she also knew that she couldn't live with herself if anything happened to any of them because of her. As she opened her mouth to say this but Rosalie suddenly stiffened.

"What is it?" Bella asked.

"He's here." Rosalie answered.

"Who?" Bella asked praying she was wrong.

"Jacob."

"What do we do?"

"Nothing, right now. It's possible he won't come in because I'm here. He might be too afraid."

"But what if he'd not?"

"Then I want you to run downstairs, get into your truck and get to my house. I'll deal with him."

"No. I won't let you fight him by yourself."

"Look, Bella, the worst he'll be able to do is hurt me. He won't be able to kill me. It would be to risky for him to start a fire this close to the woods. And when the vemon will just heal any of my wounds so don't worry."

Bella couldn't let her fight him. She couldn't deal with it if someone in the family got hurt. Especially if it was defending her.

"And the baby can heal mine!" she argued.

"Not if he kills the baby before he gets a chance to heal you. He doesn't even know about the baby. He won't be careful." Rosalie stated. Bella opened her mouth to argue but Rosalie cut her off, "You're a mother now Bella. The baby has to be your first priority. It's going to be hard but you can't let anything happen to your child. Who knows what the mutt is planning on doing. The baby might be killed before he gets a chance to heal anything. Please, Bella, if he comes just run."

Bella couldn't argue with that. Rosalie was right the baby was the most important thing right now. She had to protect him even if that meant leaving Rosalie on her own. She was going to hate doing it but there was nothing else she could do. She just nodded.

"Go stand by the door. I want you to have a clear escape." Rosalie ordered. Bella did what she said.

Things happened very quickly after that. Halfway across the room Bella heard a crash and glass went flying everywhere. Rosalie jumped on top of Bella to protect her from the shards. The both rolled to the door. Rosalie got up and stood in a crouching position to poised to attack. Bella looked up to see Jacob in wolf form prepared to attack.

"Go!" Rosalie yelled before leaping at Jacob.

Bella heard growls and yowls of pain as she took off down the stairs. She went to the hook in the living room but the keys to her truck weren't there. She didn't want to waste precious time looking for them. She wrenched the door open and ran toward the forest.

She realized her mistake just a she tripped over a tree root. Why did she try to run through the woods, barefoot, in the middle of the night? She should've known, being Isabella Swan, that it was a recipie for disaster. She fell to the ground, hitting her head on a large rock.

_"Maybe, Edward will find me before Jacob does." _she thought as the world faded to black.

**A/N: Another long one. I started it last night but it was taking too long so I had to stop. I do need your opinion on something. I was thinking of giving Jacob an accomplice. What do you guys think? Hugs for reviews!!**


	17. Rage

**CHAPTER 17 RAGE**

**EDWARD**

"Edward!" Alice yelled. "Edward!"

Edward was lying on his bed thinking about what Emmett had said to him. He was just about to respond to Alice's yells when his door crashed open and Alice walkd in.

"We have to get to Bella's." she said quickly. "I just took a peek to make sure Bella and Rose were alright and all I got was balckness."

"Damn it!" Edward growled and leapt from the bed. "Get the family!"

He ran down the stairs and out the front door as quickly as possible. He was running throught he trees blinded by thoughts of what the mutt could possibly be doing to his angel and his sister. If either one was hurt, Edward was gonna kill him. He would pound the life out of the worthless dog.

He barely noticed when his family caught up with him. Emmett was by his side and they were both running much faster than the others.

When they arrived at Bella's house, Charlie's cruiser was gone but Bella's truck was still there. The house was silent. Emmett and Edward didn't stop to be rational about getting inside. Emmett busted down the front door and the brothers took off upstairs.

The smell was horrid when they reached Bella's room. It smelled like a lot of the mutt's blood had been spilled. Edward breathed easily when he found he couldn't smell Bella's. That was until he heard a groan of pain from the room. Emmett pushed the door open.

The was blood on the walls. Mostly Jacob's from the smell of it. There was another moan of pain and Edward looked to find Rosalie lying on the floor in front of Bella's dresser. When Emmett saw her, he was at her side in less than a second.

She was lying there with bite marks and scrathes all over. Her left leg was stuck out at an odd angle. Edward assumed it was broken.

Looking at the deep gashes and bites all over her, Edward didn't need his two medical degrees to know that, if she was human, she be dead or pretty damn close. He silently cursed the mutt as he knelt next to his sister.

"Rose baby." Emmett's voice was another indication of how bad it was. He sounded like he wanted to cry and Emmett never got that emotional about anything.

The family had assembled by now. Carlisle was staring at his daughter looking like he wanted to cry. Carlisle knew she would heal but it would be painful. And no amount of pain medicine would dull it.

"Edward, you have to find him." Rosalie said he voice shaking. "I made Bella leave when he got here but I don't know if he caught her or not. I'm so sorry."

"Don't be." Edward replied. "I'm sorry he did this to you."

"You may not be able to catch her scent very well." she gasped out. "He took a bunch of her clothes. I think he means to confuse your trail."

"Shh! Don't talk anymore." Emmett said.

"No, I have to get this out." Rosalie stated. "He might not be alone. I think I picked up another one before he came crashing through the window. Be careful."

Edward nodded. He was going to find the mutt one way or another. He was going to make him pay for this and for everything he did to Bella.

"Emmett, take Rose home." Carlisle said. "Make her comfortable. That's the best we can do, I'm afraid."

The helpless tone in his voice scared Edward. It was like when your a little kid and you suddenly realize that your father isn't superman. The pain this was causing Carlisle and the rest of the family was another thing the dog would pay for.

"Alice, Jasper, I need you guys to clean this up before Charlie gets home." Carlisle continued as Emmett pick Rosalie up and carried her out of the room. "Make sure it doesn't look like anything happened here. Esme I want you to call and tell Charlie that Bella fell asleep on the way home from a shopping trip. Tell him that she's going to stay over again. I don't want him out looking for her. It'll be too dangerous for humans. I don't know how far he'll go. Edward you and I will go to Sam and we'll start searching for him."

"No." Edward stated. "You go to Sam. I'm gonna start the search." Edward said.

"That's too dangerous." Carlisle stated.

"I don't care. I can't stand the thought that he could be hurting her. And who knows if she'll still be alive after we talk to Sam." Edward argued.

"But Edward, you heard Rosalie." Alice said. "He's going to confuse her scent and he might not be alone."

"It's a chance I'll have to take." Edward said and headed to the door.

"Edward," Esme said. "Be careful and call us the minute you find something."

"I will." Edward stated and left the room.

He ran to her truck to see if she even made it there. Her scent was there but not strong enough to say that she had been there in the past half hour. He ran to the edge of the forest and caught a whiff of her. It was pretty strong. He'd say only like ten minutes or so. He followed it as quickly as possible for an hour but found only a sweater.

"Damn it!" he yelled. This happened three more times. He found a shoe, a pair of jeans, and a skirt but no sign of the real Bella.

Four hours of searching and absolutely nothing. He was about to give up and go home when something caught his nose. It was Bella but not just her scent, it was unmistakably her blood. The mutt was going to die. He took off in the direction of the scent.

**BELLA**

**(A/N: Just so there's no confusion about the timing. Bella was unconcious for most of the four hours that Edward was looking for her. She is just now waking up.)**

Bella conciousness was slowly returning. Her head was pounding, she tried to move her hands to rub her temples but found she couldn't. The were bound above her head. Her feet were bound as well. She was laying on what felt like a stone floor, her eyes fluttered open and she took in her surroundings.

She was in what looked like a cell. There was a caged door that was shut and locked in front of her. She looked at the space. It was a fairly big cell. It looked like it could possibly be the inside of tomb. She pushed herself up, with difficulty because of her bonds.

The room spun for a minute and then righted itself. She found she could see this better at this level and took another sweep of the room. It was large and the whole thing was made of stone. She was alone from what she could tell. Somehow she knew it wouldn't stay that way for long.

As if answering her thoughts, she heard footsteps coming up the dark passageway that extended out from the cell. As the footsteps got closer, Bella saw Jacob's form shaping out in the little light in the room. He stopped and unlocked the door, stepped in and closed it again.

"You're awake I see." Jacob said with a twisted smile on his face.

"Where the hell are we?" she asked. He backhanded her and she fell back to the ground.

"Watch your mouth!" he yelled. "We're in an old forgotten cemetary somewhere around your precious bloodsucker's house."

"Are you stupid?" Bella asked shocked. Did he think they wouldn't be found?

He grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked it back. She cried out in pain as she felt like he was ripping it from her scalp.

"No, Bella,I not stupid!" He yelled directly in her ear. She flinched. "When I finished with your dumb blonde bloodsucker, I scattered a bunch of your clothes everywhere. The whole forest is reeking with your scent."

He shoved her face back to the ground. Bella had forgotten Rosalie. What had he done with her?

"What did you do to her?" Bella asked.

"She'll live, although, the past few hours have probably been very painful for her." Bella didn't have to see his face to know he was smiling when he said this.

She had a smile of her own for him and she didn't hold back. He had no idea what he had just done.

"You know the only thing that you have succeeded in doing is pissing Edward off more." Bella stated. "He'll want revenge for his sister."

"By the time he finds this place, you'll be dead and I'll be long gone." Jacob stated.

"I wouldn't underestimate him. I mean, he hunted James until to keep me safe. He'll definately hunt you to avenge me."

"You really think he loves you that much? The only reason he is still putting up with you is because he feels guilty. They all do. Once they find your dead body, they'll forget all about you."

"They love me and will take care of me no matter what!"

"Keep telling yourself that love. Maybe as you're dying it'll become true."

"You would really kill me Jake? You hate Edward that much."

"No, I don't hate him that much but it's like I said, if I can't have you, I'll be damned before I let him have you back." Jacob yelled barely controling himself.

"Well, from what I hear being damned isn't that bad. You might enjoy it." She had no idea was she was pushing him. She knew what he could do. What he was planning on doing . So why was she pissing him off?

Well, it worked. He brought his foot back to kick her in the stomach she tried to curl in on herself so he would miss. He was too fast for her. His foot landed, hard against her lower abdomen. She realized what he could potentially do and let out a cry. He payed no attention to her, he just continued kicking her in the abdomen. When he was finished, she curled herself into a ball. She was crying and praying the baby was okay.

Her praying was in vain as she felt wetness seeping onto her underwear. All she could do was continue crying. She would be happy if it wasn't for the fact that she just lost her baby.

She was bleeding and Edward would be able to smell her blood above anything else. He'd know where to find her. She just hoped it wasn't too late for her. Even if it was for the baby.

"I don't understand." Jacob questioned. He had picked her up and slammed her into the wall. "Usually you take your beatings like a man. Why are you crying like a baby today? Has spending time with the bloodsuckers made you soft?"

Bella was suddenly full of intese rage. He had just killed their baby and now he was taunting her. She needed to do something but didn't have anyway to defend herself. She spat into his face. He backhanded her but didn't release her. Her head collided with the stone wall.

"Answer me, stupid whore? I really want to know what's got you so upset?" He taunted some more. "Did you finally realize I was right about your leeches? Are you going to accept that you are going to die?"

Bella turned to face him.

"Edward, will find me." she said defiantly. "You've just garunteed that."

"What makes you say that?"

"You've just spilled my blood. Edward can smell it from miles away."

"I see no blood."

"Take off my jeans and you'll see that you just killed your child. Which spilled my blood." Bella answered. She was still crying but she had just realized something. She was never meant to have the baby. It was meant to be her savior.

Jacob was in a state of shock. He released her and she slid to the floor.

"You were pregnant?" he said.

"Yes." she choked.

"Why didn't you tell me?" His shock was dissolving to anger.

"I just found out the other night." Bella stated. "We couldn't find you."

"Did you even try?"

He didn't give her a chance to answer. He stomped down on her left leg hard and she screamed in pain as she felt it snap. He didn't give her a chance to recover. He picked her up and threw her against a wall. She felt her bones in her back breaking.

"Stop, please Jake!" She cried as he began ounching and kicking her whereever his fist and feet land.

She felt skin tearing and bones breaking as he continued to pummel her. She continued to beg but he wasn't listening. It was like a monster worse than what he used to be had taken over him. He didn't stop until a growl ripped through the passageway. Edward came running at vampire speed toward the cell.

Bella couldn't move or speak. She let out a small groan of pain as Jacob lifted her off the ground. She barely felt the steal of a dagger that Jacob had pressed against her throat.

"Come any closer bloodsucker and I'll kill her." Jacob growled.

"You are a coward Jacob Black. You have to hide behind a human for protection." Edward taunted. "Put her down and let's go outside and settle this once and for all."

"Fine." Jacob said and shoved Bella back to the floor. She groaned in pain once again and let the blackness take over.

**A/N: Okay once again, I'm not sure if her losing the baby would work the quickly but I had to find away for Edward to find her. The blood seemed the best. It also served a wonderful purpose of pissing Jacob off enough to push him over the edge. I hope you guys liked it. Hugs for my reviewers!**


	18. Ending It

**CHAPTER 17 ENDING IT **

**EDWARD**

As he ran, Edward pulled out his phone and dialed Carlisle's number. When Carlisle answered, Edward didn't even bother with pleasantries.

"I'm on the right track. I know because I just got hit with a whiff of her blood. I don't know what he's done to her. All I know is she's bleeding. It doesn't smell too bad. I hope for her sake, it's not what I think it is." Edward explained.

He prayed that it wasn't the baby. That would destroy any bit of Bella there was left. He really hoped that the mutt would have mercy.

"Okay. Sam and I will follow your trail." Carlisle stated.

"No." Edward said. "I can't risk him smelling you guys and killing Bella before I can stop him."

"Okay. Be careful." Carlisle said. "Sam and I will go back to the house and get things ready in case she needs medical attention."

"How's Rose?" Edward asked not forgetting about his brave sister.

"She's doing better. Still in a lot of pain." Carlisle replied. "Emmett asked me to tell you to make sure he suffers."

"Don't worry, he will." Edward replied. Edward would make sure of it. There was no way he was letting the mutt off without a good beating. He didn't intend to kill him though. Only Bella had a right to decide his fate.

He followed the trail at a run for a good ten minutes and found himself in the middle of an old forgotten cemetary. It looked as though no when had been there in a decade. The grass had grown tall enough to cover most of the headstones. The was moss a weeds growing everywhere.

The scent was getting stronger.

_"He must be hurting her more." _Edward thought and resisted the urge to growl. He wanted to surprise the mutt as much as possible. He followed the scent into a small dark room. There was an open tomb in the center of the room. Edward knew he had found her.

Not only was her scent the strongest it had been all day but he could hear what was going on. He heard the tearing of Bella's skin, the crunching of her bones and her pleas for Jacob to stop. He immediately jumped into the tomb. He found himself in some kind of underground chamber.

He was standing at the end of a short passageway. He let out a growl and went running toward the otherside, when he say Jacob stomping on every part of Bella his foot could land on. Jacob looked up and quick as a flash he had Bella off the ground and was holding a dagger to her throat. Edward heard her let out a groan of pain and had to resist the urge to run to her.

"Come any closer bloodsucker and I'll kill her." Jacob growled.

Edward's anger was growing stronger by the minute. How dare he hurt Bella like that then use her as a shield.

"You are a coward Jacob Black. You have to hide behind a human for protection." Edward taunted. "Put her down and let's go outside and settle this once and for all."

"Fine." Jacob said and shoved Bella back to the floor. She groaned in pain once again.

Jacob began walking toward him. Edward took one last look at Bella, now lying unconcious on the floor, promised he'd be back and followed Jacob outside. When he arrived Jacob was already on the other side of the cemetary.

"You know, mutt, in the past month you've done a lot to incur my wrath. I held back because it was what Bella wanted but I can't do it any longer." Edward said. "Not after what I just saw down the or after what you did to my sister."

"Your sister had it coming. All she had to do was let me take Bella and she wouldn't have been harmed." Jacob said. "But no she had to fight."

"She was protecting someone she loves." Edward said. "She would do it again in a heartbeat. Unlike you. You think love means hurting someone over petty jealousy."

"I was right though, wasn't I?" Jacob asked. "She wanted you back all this time."

"No, Jacob." Edward shook his head. "She wanted you. Even after you hit her for a month, she still wanted you. She didn't want me until you violated her. Then she knew how far you would go. That's when she wanted me back. Now, I'm going to avenge her for that."

Jacob smirked.

"You know what I think, leech?" he said. "I think the only thing you're upset about is the fact that I got to stick her before you did."

Edward let out a growl of anger. Jacob took great pleasure in remembering that day. Edward saw everything which only further incured his wrath.

"But," Jacob continued with a smile. "She seems really out of it right now. Might not last much longer. I go down there and take what you want while you still have the chance."

That was the last straw. Edward's was done with the verbal, he was ready to get physical. He ran, at vampire speed toward Jacob. He was in Jacob's face before Jacob knew what was happening.

He punched Jacob in the face with every but of force he had. Edward was pleased to hear his jaw break as he hit the ground hard. Without giving Jacob as chance to recover, he kicked him in the stomach several times. Then Edward lifted him up and slammed him into a tree.

After that, things became a blur for Edward. He remembered letting all the rage from the past few months out. He remembered pummeling Jacob the way Jacob had pummeled Bella. He remembered saying things like,

"How do you like it?" and "This one's for Rosalie!" or "For Bella"

Edward didn't come back to his senses until Jacob was lying motionless at his feet. Edward bent down to check his pulse. There was none. Jacob Black was dead. Edward cursed himself for getting so angry. Bella was supposed to decide whether or not Jacob lived. Not Edward.

_"Oh well." _Edward thought as he kicked Jacob in the face one last time just to be sure. He then headed back into the chamber to get Bella.

When Edward got to her, she was still unconcious. He bent down to check her pulse. It was there but barely. He knew if he tried to take her to Carlisle, she wouldn't make it. He also knew there was only one option.

He didn't know if she still wanted it. He didn't even know if she still wanted him. He could let her die and be at peace. Or he could change her and she would live. If he did that then he would risk her hating him for all enternity. Could he deal with that?

He had less than a second of indecision then made up his mind. Being the selfish creature that he was, he knew he could live everyday for enternity knowing that she hated him. He could not, however live everyday for enternity knowing that she was dead when he had the power to save her.

He leaned down, kissed her forehead, and whispered,

"Please, forgive me."

Unsure of exactly what to do, he didn't bother asking Carlisle after Bella dumped him, he bit into her neck. The blood was sweeter than he could have ever imagihne. It was even sweeter than that day in the ballet studio. He had to force himself to stop. Then just to make sure there was enough venom for all her injuries, he bit each one of his wrists and each of her ankles. He had to force himself to stop each time.

Once he was sure there was enough vemon, he wrapped her in his arms and ran back to the house. He needed to make her as comfortable as possible.

When he got there, he assumed Alice had had a vision about this happening because nobody questioned him as he carried her to his room. He layed her down on the bed and curled himself next to her. He held her close to his body as she convulsed and groaned in pain.

"Shh." he whispered as he stroked her hair. "It'll all be over soon. I promise."

**A/N: And that ladies and gentlemen is all she wrote. I'm sorry it's so short. I hope it turned out okay. The last story I wrote, the last chapter bombed. I hope that's not the case this time. And never fear, there will be an epilouge. I'm also going to be starting another Twilight fic shortly. This one will be slightly more complicated but it will be amazing. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Hugs for my reviewers. You are the ones who kept this story going. **


	19. Epilogue: Better in Time

**A/N: Because I'm getting yelled at. Here is the epilogue a day earlier than I planned.**

**EPILOGUE BETTER IN TIME**

Edward told Sam where to find Jacob's body. Thankfully, Edward had given him such a good beating that it looked like a wild animal attacked him. That's what Charlie put down for her report, at any rate. He didn't believe it but had said he didn't want to know what really happened. Sam didn't hold Jacob's death against Edward. In fact, he thanked Edward for making sure Jacob could never hurt Bella again. Sam also turned a blind eye to Edward turning Bella. He it was the only way to save her life.

Jacob's funeral was held a week after his death. The Cullens (including Bella) attended mostly out of respect for the pack and partly out of respect for the man Jacob used to be.

After her transformation, Bella didn't hate Edward. In fact, once she realized there was no more reason to fear for her safety and that he really did love her, regardless of what Jacob did, she apologized. The two spent a year putting their relationship back together before he proposed again and she accepted without hesitation this time.

When the Cullen's first left, a week after Bella and Edward's wedding, Bella told Charlie and Renee that they were just traveling for awhile. She said she wasn't sure how often she'd be able to visit but she'd try. The family moved from place to place, not staying anywhere too long.

Bella slowly learned that things really do get better in time. As the years went on she found herself thinking more about the fun times she had with her best friend and less about the times he spent hurting her.

The family would return to Forks one day a year. The were granted special permission from the pack to enter their territory that one day. It was the anniversary of the first time Jacob hit her. The would go to the cemetary on in La Push to visit Jacob's grave. Bella felt more at peace with herself for doing it on this day. The family understood completely and went with her every year.

By visiting his grave on this day as oppose to the day he actually died, Bella felt more like she mourning the lose of her best friend and a man she once loved, rather than the monster she had become.

**A/N: I don't think I left anything out. I'm sorry. I'm still working winding my stories down better. I thought it sounded like a good way to end the last chapter. Perhaps, I was wrong. **


	20. AN: Trailer

**A/N: Hey guys, it's been awhile. I just wanted to let you know that I finally got someone to do a trailer for Face Down on youtube. I'd like to give a hug thank you to my friend ****Spazlararoo** for putting time and energy into doing the vid for me. It turned out fantastic and I can't stop watching it. Anyway, I just wanted to give you guys the link, seeing how much everyone enjoyed it. I hope you enjoy the vid as well. Here's the link:

.com/watch?v=fReE2Wch6jM

Go and watch.

L&H,

Anni


	21. Without You Trailer

**A/N: I knwo you guys are probably getting sick of the author's notes all of the time, but I just wanted to let you know that the amazing, Lis123 has struck again. She made a trailer/video for the entire Without You Series. I thought that I'd leave a note on all of my stories. If you've read the series, you should watch the video to see how awesome she is and if you haven't she did a fantastic job of depicting the story and you should check out the video. Anyway, her Youtube channel is Lisalmf123 and the video is titled Without You Series. You should all check it out and leave her some love. **


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